Returning Home
by Thorntangle
Summary: Picks up right after the SON. Jason returns to Camp Jupiter, Percy and Annabeth are reunited. A Mark of Athena fic. Jason/Reyna, Jason/Piper, Percy/Annabeth.
1. Chapter 1 Returning Home

**Confused as to why Returning Home is starting over from Chapter 1? See my profile!**

**For the purposes of this story, Gwen never retired.**

**As promised, the re-written chapter one, updated even sooner than intended, yes your welcome.**

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><p><strong>Jason<strong>

Jason nervously clutched the hilt of Juno's gladius. The wind tugged at his toga, the one he had made out of a bed sheet from the extra bunk. He hoped that Terminus recognized him and didn't blast the Argo II out of the sky. The faint sounds of horns blowing could be heard, and he knew that the camp was going on high alert.

"You alright up there man?"

Jason glanced down at Leo, who was currently trying to turn the Argo away from the city with his WII remotes.

"I'm good, though you seriously need to get this thing away from the city, trust me when I tell you that the Romans will not appreciate a war ship in the middle of the town square."

Leo waved the remotes, hit a few buttons on the dash and tugged at some levers. "I'm working on it; this baby isn't easy to turn."

Slowly, the Argo II began to tip left. Ahead, through the clouds, Jason could just make out the bare and slightly charred grounds of the Field of Mars. A fort, half finished, was the only building on the acres of land outside the camp. He remembered the war games, most of which his cohort won, and couldn't help but wonder if the Fifth was still doing well in the games without him.

His memories had begun to come back right after they left Camp Half-Blood, and he was ninety percent sure he had all of them back. Now that he _knew_ who Gwen, Dakota, Bobby and Hazel were he couldn't wait for the Argo II to land. With the memories of his friends, had also come the memories of his enemies. He wasn't looking forward to a reunion with Octavian, or all of his little spies. Hopefully the augur hadn't been too much of a pain in the ass while he was gone.

Piper called out directions to Leo, who began the complicated process of making the Argo II descend. Annabeth made her way over to the mast and raised the white flag he and Piper had made out of some extra bed sheets. They had made the flag extra big, to ensure that the legion would see it and not kill them.

As the ship began to descend through the clouds, the wind picked up. The bed sheet flag of truce snapped in the wind, almost as long as the ship itself. Leo was pulling at levers and hitting buttons frantically, while tapping out some code with his feet on the re-engineered Dance Revolution pad.

"Oh my gods."

Leo stopped his epileptic dance routine and called out above the wind to Piper. "What, are we on a collision course with a mountain or something?"

Jason looked down at Leo. "Just land the ship, everything is fine."

Leo shrugged and went back to completing his dance. Annabeth raced across the lower deck to Piper. Once she saw what had made Piper cry out, she glanced up at him with a grim expression. Jason gave her a reassuring smile; at least, he hoped it was reassuring. Below, at the edge of the Field of Mars, in front of the camp wall, was the Twelfth Legion. Two hundred and fifty demigods stood in formation, at attention, shields and pillums glinting in the sun. As they got closer, Jason saw the impenetrable line of demigods shift. Even from this distance, he could hear the clank of locking shields. He prayed to the gods that he and Piper had made the flag of truce big enough.

**Reyna**

Reyna watched as the Greek warship became visible through the clouds. Though she trusted Percy, it was hard to believe anyone arriving in that could be peaceful. The ship was huge and its hull, which was covered and reinforced with celestial bronze shields, glinted dully in the sun. The bow of the ship was a huge and menacing bronze dragon head, which looked like it could breathe fire. As she made her way to the Field of Mars, were the legion had begun to gather, she caught a glimpse of the ship's flag. It looked like someone had stitched a bunch of bed sheets together, but the makeshift flag got the message across.

She raised her hand and signaled for the scouts to stop blowing the horns. There was no need to raise the alarm; everyone could see the ship descending through the clouds. The legionnaires, who had already fallen into formation, were talking loudly and pointing at the approaching warship.

"_Twelfth Legion, to formation, stand at attention!"_

Her voice carried easily across the Field of Mars in the silence left by the horns and the talking stopped immediately. She surveyed the legion as Percy made his way over to her. A wide smile lit up his face and she envied his excitement. Jacob and the eagle's honor guard took their position to the side of her and with a quick glance at Percy, she addressed the legion.

"_We will allow the Greeks to land. Percy has assured me that they mean us no harm, but if they are not peaceful, be prepared to fight."_

Percy leaned toward her and whispered anxiously in her ear. "Reyna, I told you, my friends are aboard that ship, they aren't going to hurt us."

Reyna held out her hand, a probatio raced forward and placed a small imperial gold telescope in her palm. She looked through the device and then handed it to Percy. Once he had it trained on ship she leaned toward him.

"Do you know her?"

Percy frowned and handed the telescope back to the probatio, who then raced back into formation. The girl she and Percy had seen through the scope was standing along the rail, looking out at the camp. She had choppy brown hair and a dagger strapped to her waist.

Reyna couldn't stand the silence. "Well?"

"I don't know her," Percy ran a hand through his hair and gripped Riptide, which was still in pen form.

Reyna took a deep breath and rested her hand on the hilt of her gladius. _"Ready!"_

Behind her, the legion locked shields and raised their pillums as one. The clank of armor and weapons echoed across the deathly silent field. She prayed to the gods that Percy was right, that the Greeks meant them no harm. If the Doors of Death were to be closed, both camps would have to work together and attacking Camp Jupiter wasn't the best way to win the support of New Rome.

The warship glided carefully through the air toward the Field of Mars and came to a jarring and ungraceful landing. The ship hit the ground and the bounced back into the air, only to come crashing down again. It slid a few feet in the loose dirt and Reyna could feel the legion's anxiety as the dragon head bow skidded toward them.

"_Hold the line!"_

The centurions took up her command and she could just imagine the startled expressions on the legionnaire's faces as the warship came to a shuttering halt. Jason, who she had caught a glimpse of, was no longer standing on the upper deck. He must have been knocked down, just as the girl near the rail had been. After a few tense moments, a short, dark haired boy lowered a rope ladder over the railing. She was no daughter of Vulcan, but the ladder was pretty low tech. compared to the rest of the warship. The dark haired boy was the first to descend, followed by the girl with the choppy hair. Once the girl was halfway down the ladder, Jason appeared at the rail and began to follow her down. Gasps and whispers broke out amongst the legion, mostly from the Fifth Cohort, and the centurions called for silence.

Reyna's chest felt tight and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the Son of Jupiter. Jason Grace looked exactly the same, though his hair was a bit longer and he wore an orange shirt instead of a purple one. His expression, the way he held himself and the intensity of his electric blue gaze remained unchanged. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Percy glance at her, a small smile turning up the corner of his mouth. She prayed to the gods that she didn't look star struck or longing and quickly tried to seem unaffected by the appearance of her old friend. The last person to climb down the ladder was a girl in an orange shirt and jean shorts, a dagger hanging from a belt at her waist. She had long, curly blond hair with a streak of grey running through it that matched her eyes.

"Annabeth." Percy's statement was only a breath, but Reyna heard it and couldn't help but smile. She glanced at Percy, but he didn't look at her, his sea green eyes fixated on his girlfriend.

"_Octavian," _That got Percy's attention, he gave her a look that screamed are-you-out-of-your-mind, but she ignored it, _"Gwen, you will accompany us to speak with the Greeks. Centurions, you will have your cohorts stand ready."_

Without a backward glance, Reyna strode forward. Gwen walked next to Percy and Octavian took up a position beside Reyna, who wished, once again, that Camp Jupiter had a different augur. Octavian had a death grip on a plush horse, his already pail hands ghost white. As they approached, she couldn't help but smile as Jason stared Octavian down, his expression murderous. At least Jason remembered that Octavian was a certifiable lunatic who could not be trusted. They came to a stop a few feet from the Greeks, and she hoped that Percy wouldn't do something foolish, like rush forward and kiss his girlfriend.

Composing herself and resisting the urge to smack the sneer from Octavian's face, Reyna turned her attention to the short, dark haired boy, the one from the message. "I assume that you are the leader of this diplomatic party?"

The dark haired Greek just stared at her. He didn't say anything, didn't open his mouth, didn't move, and didn't even blink. He just stared at her. Reyna arched an eyebrow and tipped her head, waiting for the Greek to do something. The girl next to him, the one Reyna had seen at the rail earlier, jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

"Leo, say something." She hissed.

The boy, Leo, shook his head and ran a hand through his thick black curls. "Uh, ya, I'm uh," he looked back at the warship, "the supreme captain, not the repair boy, of the Argo II and the fearless leader of the Camp Half-Blood, Prophecy of Seven, diplomatic, war party."

At the mention of war, Gwen and Octavian tensed. Octavian dropped the horse and lifted his gladius slightly out of its sheath. Gwen raised her shield, hand resting on her hilt. The Greeks also tensed, the girl with the choppy brown hair pulled out her knife, Jason rested his hand on the hilt of his gladius and Percy's girlfriend had a death grip on her dagger.

"Why doesn't everyone just relax," The girl with the choppy hair smiled at Octavian, who sheathed his gladius, a dreamy look upon his face, "we just want to talk, no need to be hostile."

Reyna narrowed her eyes, she had spent enough time on Circe's island to be able to recognize and withstand a Charmspeaker. Her memories of Charmspeakers were not pleasant and she was not thrilled that a Greek had the ability to manipulate others. She glanced over her shoulder, at the legion, and whistled, long and low. Aurum and Argentum burst through the ranks and raced across the Field of Mars, towards her. Octavian edged away from her as Aurum pressed against her right leg. Her dogs' hated liars and Aurum had a special dislike for Octavian, something the augur was very aware of.

"I suggest you watch what you say Charmspeaker," The girl with the choppy brown hair opened her mouth in surprise and Reyna couldn't help but smirk, "my dogs don't like liars, or people who try to manipulate others with magic."

Leo crouched down and reached out to pet Argentum, who snapped at his outstretched hand. "Wow, these are amazing," he looked up at her and Reyna was taken aback by the adoration in his gaze, "how did you build them, did you use a regular forge or one of the new models?"

Reyna furrowed her brow and wrapped her hand around Argentum's muzzle; the greyhound was two seconds away from ripping the Greek's arm off. The girl with the choppy hair pulled Leo to his feet and away from Argentum. She turned her attention to Percy's girlfriend, who had been watching them with intelligent grey eyes the second she stepped off the ladder.

"Perhaps I should be addressing you."

Percy's girlfriend matched her stare, her hand still on the hilt of her dagger. "I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."

Octavian pulled his knife, which was as thin and sharp as a razor blade, from the folds of his toga. Beside her, Percy uncapped Riptide, shifting to face the augur. Reyna glared at him and so did Annabeth, as Octavian picked up the plush toy at his feet and gutted it.

"_We must be wary of this one,"_ Octavian sifted through the horse's stuffing, _"darkness and danger surrounds her, she will cause nothing but problems."_

For once, Reyna was glad Percy didn't understand Latin.

"_Perhaps we should…"_ Octavian flicked the tip of the knife at Annabeth and gave Reyna a pointed look. Jason gripped the hilt of his gladius.

Reyna took the knife from Octavian's hand, which the augur only realized after she pointed it at him. _"They come under a flag of truce. If you start a needless war I will skin you alive with this knife."_

Octavian clenched his jaw and took the knife from her hand when she offered it to him. With a sigh, she ignored Percy's questioning stare and focused on Annabeth.

"I am sorry for the displays of hostility, but your appearance in a warship is a bit misleading." Reyna gestured at Gwen, "This is Gwen, daughter of Apollo, senator of New Rome and centurion of the Fifth Cohort," she tipped her head to Octavian, "and this is Octavian, legacy of Apollo, senator of New Rome, centurion of the Frist Cohort and augur of Camp Jupiter."

"I'm Leo Valdez," the dark haired Greek ignored Annabeth's furious glare, "son of Hephaestus, but you probably knew that from the message I sent. This is Piper Mclean," the girl with the choppy brown hair was glaring at him too, "daughter of Aphrodite and you obviously already know Jason."

"Yes," Octavian sniffed, "we unfortunately do."

Reyna glanced at Octavian out of the corner of her eye. _"You were not given permission to speak."_

Octavian mumbled an apology and Aurum growled at him. Percy broke the tension and smiled at the Greeks. "I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, originally a member of Camp Half-Blood," Reyna didn't miss the surprised and relieved expression that flashed across Annabeth's face, Percy glanced hesitantly at Reyna and she nodded at him to continue, "a senator of New Rome and one of the praetors of Camp Jupiter."

"I'm Reyna," she glanced at Jason in surprise when he repeated her name, but the Son of Jupiter seemed to be lost in thought, "daughter of Bellona, a senator of New Rome, destroyer of the Titan Krios and praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata."

"Thank you for receiving us peacefully," Annabeth glanced at Octavian who just glared at her, "we wish to discuss with you a prophecy we have received from our Oracle."

"Yes, the Prophecy of Seven," Reyna ignored Leo and Piper's surprised expressions, "we've known about this prophecy for centuries, but please, let us discuss this in Senate."

"In what?"

Reyna ignored Leo and let Percy explain. She turned away from the Greeks and faced the legion. The fact that she had her back to the 'enemy' visibly put the legion at ease.

"_Centurions, you are to report to the Senate House immediately. First Cohort,"_ the First Cohort stood at attention, _"you will board the Greek's ship and preform a thorough search, and you are not to touch or remove anything. If you should find that there are more Greeks aboard, arrest them and escort them to the Senate House. Twelfth Legion, you are dismissed to your duties."_

The First Cohort marched forward toward the warship. The rest of the legion broke formation and filed through the gates of Camp Jupiter. Gwen and the rest of the centurions escorted the Greeks and Jason across the Field of Mars, toward the road to the city. Besides the members of the First, who were slowly climbing up the rope ladder, only Percy and Octavian remained. Reyna was glad Percy had enough sense to remain behind and not follow his girlfriend; the Son of Neptune could be intelligent when he wished to be.

"_So, do you want me to go-"_

"_Yes," _Reyna knew Octavian wouldn't appreciate the fact that she had cut him off, but she honestly didn't care at the moment, she had bigger things to worry about, _"find out as much as you can, and then join us in the Senate House. You may miss the introductions, but nothing important."_

Octavian nodded and made his way quickly to the road. Once his sandals hit the paving stones, he was running. Reyna watched him go, the bed sheet flag above the Argo II snapping in the wind. Aurum and Argentum whined, their ruby eyes sad.

"So…"

Reyna turned and looked at Percy. Excitement and sympathy swirled within his sea green eyes. She looked away and watched as the last member of the First Cohort, Danny, a boy no more than eleven years old, climbed up the ladder.

"Let's get this meeting over with."

Percy placed a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off and made her way across the Field of Mars, Aurum and Argentum on her heels.

"A warship!" Terminus shook his marble head in disgust. Reyna watched in amusement as Percy tried to give Julia Riptide, but the sword just kept reappearing in his pocket. "I can't believe the audacity of those Greeks! What type of diplomatic party arrives in a warship?"

Reyna shrugged and allowed Terminus to ramble on. After a few more attempts from Julia to get ahold of Riptide, Terminus snapped.

"Oh for the love of Jupiter, forget the sword Julia. I'm sure Mr. Jackson knows better than to use it within my city." Terminus glared down at Percy who smiled and assured the god he wouldn't uncap the pen inside the Pomerian line.

Reyna started to hand Julia her various knives and daggers. She told Percy to go on ahead; already a crowd had formed outside the Senate House. Percy said goodbye to Terminus and made his way down the road. Terminus watched him go, and then turned to face her.

"_So, these Greeks."_

Reyna looked up at Terminus. _"I trust Percy, Terminus, and he assured me that his friends are peaceful. Personally, I don't believe they are much of a threat."_

Terminus frowned. _"That daughter of Minerva worries me."_

"_She's Percy's girlfriend, from what I've been told he trusts her the most."_

Terminus looked out to the Senate house. _"She asks a lot of questions, too inquisitive for her own good if you ask me. She seems the most capable of the three, whoever trained her did a good job."_

Reyna laughed. _"Are you actually giving a Greek a compliment Terminus?"_

Reyna expected Terminus to start yelling or glare at her, but the border god just looked at her thoughtfully. _"She reminds me of you, though less disciplined."_

Carefully, Reyna unbuckled her sword belt and handed the sheathed gladius to Julia. _"You also forget that I have better training."_

Terminus barked at Julia to be careful with the gladius and the little girl rested it gently on the base of the god's statue. Once Terminus was sure the gladius wouldn't fall, he smiled at Reyna.

"_That goes without saying Praetor; of course a Roman demigod is better trained than a Greek."_

The crowd outside the Senate House had grown. Reyna said goodbye to Julia and started to say the same to Terminus, but the god explained that he would be joining the meeting. A statue of Terminus stood right outside the Senate House, close to the praetor's chairs and the border god disappeared, probably reappearing in the other statue.

As Reyna approached the edge of the crowd, people began to call out to her. Some citizens asked her questions, while others wished her luck and a few even called out insults. Regardless of their opinions on her decision to allow the Greeks to land and speak in Senate, the crowd parted, allowing her to reach the Senate steps quickly and easily. When she mounted the steps, the packed Senate House rose to its feet, or hovered to its feet, it seemed as if all the Lares were present. As she made her way to her seat, talking ceased and the insults people were calling to Jason. Though the people of the Senate were not happy about the Greeks presence, they had been kind enough to provide them chairs. Leo, Piper, Jason and Annabeth, whose chair was the closet to Percy, sat near the open doors of the Senate House, their backs to the sneering citizens of New Rome.

Reyna took a seat, Aurum and Argentum sitting patiently in front of the carved arms. The Senate also took their seats, but one person remained standing. She motioned to the floor and Octavian edged his way out of the stands. Once he took the floor, Octavian took up a position to her left, a place where everyone, the Senators, the citizens and Terminus could see him.

"_Praetors," _Octavian nodded at her, but completely ignored Percy, _"Senators and citizens of New Rome, I ask your pardon, I fear that I will have to break tradition _and speak to you in English," Octavian gave the Greeks and Percy a cold smile, "some members of this meeting do not speak Latin."

Octavian walked to the center of the floor and raised his voice, ensuring that all the people gathered outside could hear. "Just a few moments ago, this ragtag war party-"

"They are not a war party Octavian." Percy's fist was clenched and he was staring daggers at Octavian from his seat.

The augur raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised at Percy's outburst. Reyna gave Percy a warning look, which thankfully he heeded and motioned for Octavian to continue. Octavian nodded at her, gave Percy a goading look and continued. It was clear from Percy's murderous expression and the scowls upon most of the Senator's faces that this was going to be a very long meeting.

**Jason**

Of all the Senate meetings he had attended, this was the longest. It seemed as if everyone had something to say. Jason couldn't believe how many people had turned out for this, the grounds around the Senate House were packed, and almost every citizen and camper was waiting outside. Honestly, if he didn't have to sit through this meeting, he wouldn't have. After the first couple of speakers, being called a traitor, a deserter, a Greek spy intent on destroying Camp Jupiter, got old. Leo looked as if he were about to jump up from his seat and start running around the Senate floor, the poor kid was twitching and shaking, not used to being still for so long. Piper looked bored out of her mind, as did half the Senate House and Jason sympathized with them. Annabeth was the only one who seemed to be following the meeting closely, or at least following the speeches that were important.

The only people who seemed to have anything positive to say about their arrival were Dakota and Gwen, and Percy Jackson, though Annabeth's boyfriend only spoke for a minute. Octavian had already taken the floor three times, or maybe four, Jason didn't really know, he never listened when the snake spoke. He was surprised that Reyna hadn't spoken yet. The praetor had remained in her chair, listening and watching the proceedings with an unreadable look upon her face. Though almost all of his memories were back, he still couldn't recall that much about her, except that she was strict, commanding, and usually tried to discredit Octavian at Senate meetings.

The sun was setting behind the hills, and the Lares had left the Senate House to go and light the braziers around the camp, roads and Senate House. If Jason had to guess, he would say that they had been in the Senate House for at least four hours and no one seemed as if they were ready to leave. An hour or two later, darkness fell over New Rome. The braziers cast eerie shadows along the marble floor and highlighted the Senator's frowns and scowls. The crowd outside had thinned a little, and most of the people were sitting on the grass, half awake and barely listening to the meeting. Some of the Senators, those in the back rows were asleep and many others looked as if they were about to walk out. Even Terminus looked irritated and tired.

Piper had her head resting on his shoulder and Leo was leaning back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. Annabeth, who had been attentive through the whole meeting, looked like she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed. Percy Jackson had his head in his hand and looked half awake, Argentum, who was lying in between Percy and Reyna's chair, occasionally looked up at him and growled whenever the Greek closed his eyes for too long. As the current Senator, a large man of about fifty, who spoke in broken English with a heavy Italian accent, made his way off the floor and back to his seat, Reyna stood. The Senate House came to life once again; those who had been asleep or close to it were wide awake and sitting up straight. The people sitting outside started to get to their feet, so that they could see and hear what was going on more easily. Leo tore his gaze away from the ceiling and looked forward, Piper sat up and Percy Jackson straightened.

Reyna swept the Senate House with her dark eyes and satisfied that no Senator wished to speak; she stepped off the diesis and took the floor. With here gladiator sandals, purple toga and Imperial golden armor, Reyna looked like she belonged in Ancient Rome. Reyna was truly a Roman; it was clear from her stature, expression and personality. Jason wished he could remember more about her, curse Juno and her tricks.

"My fellow Romans," Reyna's voice wasn't loud, like Larry's, but it carried easily to the back rows of the Senate House and to the people out on the lawn, "I have heard your concerns regarding these demigods, and I share them."

Annabeth shot Jason a frightened look. Of all the people at Camp Jupiter, Reyna was the one they needed to win over, otherwise the quest would fail.

"You have asked how we can trust these demigods," Reyna motioned to where Jason was sitting, and he noted how she didn't call them Greeks, but just demigods, "it is clear from our past that they could not be trusted, but that is the past."

Murmurs broke out amongst the Senators and Reyna waited for silence to fall. "I have seen the consequences associated with the Doors of Death being open, and we have all agreed that they need to be closed. A prophecy has been given to the Greek demigods, a prophecy we received long ago. It is time for this prophecy to unfold, seven demigods must answer the call and foes will bear arms to the Doors of Death. The Greek Oracle, our Augur and the gods have made it clear that it is time to set aside old rivalries. The past is the past; we must turn our attention to the future, a future that can only be secured if we work together with Camp Half-Blood."

Reyna paused and allowed her words to sink in. After a few seconds, she crossed the Senate floor and stood a few feet from them. She held his gaze and Jason wished for the hundredth time that night that he could remember everything about her.

"These demigods have been chosen by the gods, as have a few of our own legionnaires. Personally," Reyna turned to the Senators with a small smile, "I find you fears regarding these Greeks, this undersized son of Vulcan and startled daughter of Venus to be comical. If Camp Half-Blood wished to attack us, I would expect them to send a more formidable force."

The Senators laughed, as did the people outside. Piper glared at Reyna, while Leo simply stared at her. Reyna ignored Piper's glare and turned her attention to Annabeth, who met and held her gaze. Jason saw Percy lean forward slightly in his chair. The Senate House quieted, but Reyna didn't look away from Annabeth.

"As for this daughter of Minerva," Reyna glanced at Percy and then at the Senate, "I have heard nothing but praise. Percy Jackson, your duly chosen praetor, has assured me the Greeks mean us no harm, especially Annabeth Chase. I trust Percy and he trusts the daughter of Minerva with his life, something few people are able to do, thus I find very few reasons to be wary of her."

Reyna moved away, back toward the middle of the floor. "I say we give these demigods the benefit of the doubt, if they are in fact our enemies, the legion will not find it difficult to detain the son of Vulcan and daughter of Venus. As for Annabeth Chase," Reyna cast a mocking smile at Annabeth and then nodded at the Senators, "let the daughter of wisdom and crafts attempt an attack, I am confident in my ability to defend the camp against the daughter of Minerva."

Many of the Senators laughed and the people on the lawn called out taunts in Latin. Annabeth looked furious and Percy was shaking his head. Jason had to admit, a fight between Annabeth and Reyna would be very interesting. A Lare in the back of the Senate House called down to Reyna and she turned, focusing on him. Jason straightened in his chair and held the daughter of Bellona's stare.

**Reyna**

Reyna hesitated. Jason was staring right at her and she couldn't look away from him. Gods how she had missed him, missed those serious, electric blue eyes. After a few seconds, she tore her gaze away and looked out at the Senate and then the people on the lawn.

"No one can argue that the son of Jupiter has not benefitted Camp Jupiter. He was deemed worthy by Lupa and has spent twelve years of service with the legion, twelve years he spent going on quests, fighting and winning battles and ultimately defending and leading this camp against a force destined to destroy us all."

Reyna turned and glared at the Lare who had called out. "You ask were his allegiances lie, they lie here," Reyna gestured to the city and to the camp in the distance, "at his home," she motioned to the Senators and the people on the lawn, "with his friends, his family. Jason Grace is the son of Jupiter, a child of Rome, just as you and I are. Let anyone who questions his deeds and actions step forward and be heard."

No one moved, not even Octavian.

"I have served beside Jason for years, I have even had the privilege of leading Camp Jupiter with him, and I assure you, of all the demigods chosen for this quest, I trust Jason Grace the most."

Reyna cast a quick glance at Jason, but he had his head in his hands. "My friends," she let her gaze sweep the Senate House and the people outside, "you know me, you know that for the past four years I have done nothing but serve New Rome to the best of my abilities. You have entrusted me with the leadership of Camp Jupiter, thus putting your lives in my hands. I do not believe I have ever given anyone a reason to doubt my loyalty or the extremes I will go to protect my home, thus you can be sure that when I say these demigods from Camp Half-Blood and our long lost Saving Grace mean us no harm, I am certain they will do nothing but aid us in our quest to close the Doors of Death."

**Jason**

**(This is happening while Reyna is speaking, right after she says "I trust Jason Grace the most.")**

The memories hit him like a Cyclopes' club. Hundreds of thousands of images were flashing before his eyes, all of them involving Reyna. He tried to make sense of it all, but it was so overwhelming. Reyna laughing, Reyna standing opposite him on the Field of Mars, Reyna running through the rain, Reyna's gladius swinging at him, Reyna sitting in the Principia filling out paperwork, Reyna throwing jellybeans at him, Reyna screaming as he pushed her into the canoe lake, Reyna sitting by a fountain hand trailing in the water, Reyna glaring at him, Reyna calling his name, Reyna opening a box wrapped in bright paper, Reyna yelling, Reyna standing in front of the Senators, Reyna smiling, Reyna sitting on her bed in boxers and in an oversized blue t-shirt, Reyna reading, Reyna playing with Argentum and Aurum, Reyna brushing Scipio, Reyna laughing at him, Reyna kneeling in front of the statue of Bellona, Reyna outlined by the flames of a brazier, Reyna throwing food at him in the pavilion, Reyna fighting by his side, Reyna, Reyna, Reyna, Reyna.

Of all the images, two were perfectly clear. Reyna in full battle armor, braid lose, clothes torn and bloody, eyes gleaming with happiness as she grasped his hand while he was raised on a gold shield. He remembered that night, the night they stormed Mount Othrys, the night he was made praetor. The other memory that he was actually able to hold onto for more than a second made his chest ache. Reyna was sitting in her chair behind the large wooden table in the Principia, reading through some document. Jason had been sitting in his chair next to her, just staring at her. At one point, she glanced up from the document, caught his gaze and then quickly returned her eyes to the paper in her hands. A faint blush had spread across her cheeks and Jason remembered trying to hide a grin as he went back to finishing the shipment form in front of him. At that moment, or perhaps during one of the many moments they had had together in the weeks past, Jason decided that he was going to ask her out. Unfortunately, Juno decided to kidnap him that very night. For the first time in days, Jason wished he didn't have his memories back.

**Reyna**

People in the Senate House and outside were nodding their heads in agreement. Reyna took a deep breath, a few more minutes and this Senate meeting would be over, and in favor of the Greeks. She made her way back to her chair, but paused before taking a seat.

"Like you, I was trained by Lupa. I know the teachings Rome was built upon, one of the most important being that words are but empty promises without the deeds to support them. Aut vincere aut mori, conquer or die, that is the way of Rome. We must, at the very least, give the demigods from Camp Half-Blood and Jason Grace a chance to conquer and ease our fears otherwise," Reyna looked out at the Senators trying to meet everyone's gaze, "we are not true Romans, but simply cowards hiding behind empty words."

She took a seat and scanned the Senate House. Everyone was nodding and conversing amongst themselves. A few people caught her eye, most giving her smiles and others, like Octavian, gave her dirty looks. After a few tense minutes, her hands were shaking, gods how she hated addressing the Senate, she glanced at Percy.

"You want to call it a night?"

Percy smiled at her. "After that speech, hell yes, unless of course you want to get back out there and win us some more support."

Reyna shook her head. "No, I'm not going back out there, I hate speaking at Senate meetings."

Percy laughed quietly. "I can tell, you're a little pale and look as if you want nothing more than to run down the steps and never come back."

"Shut up, public speaking is not my forte."

As she and Percy stood, the son of Neptune leaned toward her. "Seriously, that address was award worthy, you out talked Octavian and all of New Rome."

Reyna gave Percy a small smile and then looked out at the Senate. "This Senate Meeting is closed. In seven days, the Senate shall reconvene to discuss where it stands regarding the demigods from Camp Half-Blood and what Camp Jupiter will contribute to aid the chosen members of the quest to close the Doors of Death."

People began filing out of the seats in the Senate House and the crowd outside started to thin. Everyone was talking, still discussing the Greek demigods and Jason's return. The Senate House quickly emptied, but a few centurions and the Greek demigods, who were still staring at her and Percy, remained.

"Percy." Reyna whispered.

Percy paused as he stepped off the diesis and turned to look at her. She bit her lip, eyes focused on Jason, who still had his head in his hands. The daughter of Venus was leaning over him, a hand on his shoulder.

"What if…" She looked at Percy and tried to finish the sentence, but couldn't bring herself to ask the question, what if he doesn't remember?

Percy seemed to understand. He tipped his head to the Greeks and gave her a small smile. "Come on, you can't avoid it, better to just get it over with. Who knows, maybe he does remember."

She stepped down and walked next to Percy, toward the Greeks. Annabeth, who had been staring at Percy for the last few minutes, stood up. The last few stragglers left the Senate House and the only noise was the crackling of the braziers. Percy paused a few feet from his girlfriend. Reyna watched in amusement as he tried to say something, but failed.

"Do you," Annabeth's storm grey eyes were bright, and Reyna knew she was close to crying, "do you know who I am?"

Percy laughed a harsh, almost crazed sound. "Of course I know who you are Wise Girl."

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><p><strong>And thats all you get! Oh cliffhangers, how I love them.<strong>

**Can I just give myself a pat on the back? Was Reyna's speech not amazing, specifically the closing? **

**I know Piper doesn't do much in this chapter, we'll see her in the next one. Did everyone enjoy Leo?**

**So, once again if you've been reading this story and are confused as to why it's back to chapter 1, see my profile.**

**Up next, Percy/Annabeth reunion, some Jason/Reyna, Marcus and the introductions! (oh and Leo will be making a fool of himself, as usual)**

***Sidenote: If my "epilectic dance routine" comment offended anyone, I'm sorry**


	2. Chapter 2 We'll Talk Later

**I'm aware that it has taken me awhile to update. I re-wrote this chapter about five or six times, and I am still not happy with the beginning.**

**Please understand, I am writing this story purly for fun. I don't outline or write five chapters every week, I write chapters when inspiration hits. It is summer, it's nice out, I have a life, things happen etc. I don't appreciate people flooding my inbox and posting nasty reviews reminding me how long it's been since I last updated. Now, people who post something along the lines of "awsome story, udpate soon, the wait will kill me" etc. I have no problem with. All I'm asking is that you be respectful, I will finish this story before MOA comes out in October, so relax.**

**Keep in mind that the beginning of the chapter, where it switches from Percy and Reyna, the reunion parts, are happening at the same time. **

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><p><strong>Percy<strong>

Percy wasn't prepared for Annabeth to throw herself at him and punch him in the arm. "Gods Annabeth," he took a step back, rubbing his sore shoulder, "what in Hades was that for?"

Annabeth's grey eyes were fierce, like always, but the anger burning within them made Ares look like a fluffy kitten. She moved toward him, and Percy would have taken another step back if Aurum and Argentum weren't standing right behind him.

"Where in Zeus' name have you been?" Annabeth's tone was so harsh, that even Reyna backed away from her.

**Reyna**

Reyna backed away from Percy, leaving him at the mercy of his extremely upset girlfriend. She made her way over to the Greeks and focused her attention on Jason. The son of Jupiter still had his head in his hands and it was clear from the tense set of his shoulders that something was wrong.

"Jason?"

He sat up and just stared at her. As always, his blue eyes were guarded, the emotions within them flickering and changing too quickly for her or anyone else, to decipher. She picked at the ring on her right hand, with her thumb, but other than that, she remained perfectly still, matching Jason's stare.

"Who will look away first…" The short, dark haired Greek, Leo, stage whispered in a dramatic voice.

Jason glanced away from her, and glared at his friend. Leo smirked and pointed at her. "The point goes to the daughter of baloney."

The daughter of Venus, who was sitting on the other side of Jason, rolled her eyes. "It's Bellona, Leo, she's not the daughter of a lunch meat."

"Would you two just stop?" Jason's tone froze the two Greeks in place. Leo snapped his mouth shut and Piper rested a hand on Jason's arm.

**Percy**

Percy opened his mouth to reply, but the look Annabeth gave him made the words die in his throat. She was standing right in front of him, barely an inch of space between their bodies, and under other circumstances, he would have pulled her against him, but he was terrified that she would hit him again if he so much as breathed wrong.

"I have been looking for you everywhere." She poked him in the chest, hard. "Of all the Seaweed Brained things to do, you go off and get kidnapped by a goddess and then taken to some enemy camp! Honestly Percy, did you even try to stop Hera? There was nothing, nothing, disturbed in your cabin and no one heard a thing the night you disappeared. You're one of the best swordsmen at camp, you've been on a ton of quests, not to mention, you defeated Kronos, the Titan Lord, and you get kidnapped by the goddess of marriage?" Annabeth's voice raised an octave. "What is WRONG with you?"

"Annabeth, I-"

She ignored him, her eyes still burning, her hands balled into fists at her side. "Everyone has been looking for you; even Clarisse led a search party-"

"Wait," he couldn't believe what he had just heard, "Clarisse organized a search party to find me?"

Annabeth crossed her arms and glared at him. He swallowed nervously and motioned for her to continue.

"Yes," Annabeth gave him a wry smile, "I guess she missed stuffing your head into toilets and throwing you in the canoe lake."

At the mention of the canoe lake, Percy couldn't help but smile. Annabeth frowned and glared at him, probably guessing what he was thinking about. Though her expression was cold and harsh, the faint color staining her cheeks gave away how she really felt.

Percy couldn't stop himself; he just had to tease her. "You know, Camp Jupiter has a canoe lake too."

Carefully, he tucked a stray curl behind her ear and grinned at the blush under her tan. She tipped her head down, gently swatting his hand away. When she glanced back up at him, her grey eyes were no longer burning with fury. As quickly as the anger had come, it was gone, replaced by sorrow, exhaustion, confusion and a thousand other emotions he couldn't make out. Percy felt his chest tighten; he had seen her like this, once before, at the bottom of Siren's Bay.

"I thought…" Annabeth shook her head. "It's been months Percy. Almost everyone at camp was convinced that you weren't going to come back, that I wouldn't be able to find you."

He held out his arms. "You found me."

Percy gave her a weak smile, he hated seeing her like this and he hated the fact that he didn't know what to do in these situations. Annabeth laughed, the sound was somewhere between a hysterical giggle and a sob. She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him. He in turn wrapped his arms around her, bringing her even closer, and pressed his lips against her hair. Annabeth was trembling ever so slightly, and he knew that she was seconds away from losing it. Not wanting to have a repeat of Siren's Bay in front of an audience he couldn't order to leave, Percy loosened his hold on her and tried to take a step back.

**Reyna**

"Are you okay?" Piper asked. Her tone was soft and full of concern. Try as she might, Reyna couldn't stop herself from giving the daughter of Venus a dark look.

Jason sighed. "I'm fine," he stood, the daughter of Venus following suit, "I've just got a massive headache from getting my memories back."

"I thought you already had them all back?" Leo stretched out in his chair, short legs crossed at the ankles.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. Reyna knew that gesture, she knew that light in his eyes. "You lied." She explained.

"Why would you do that?" Piper looked hurt.

"It wasn't important." Lack of details, a tone that made it clear he was done answering questions; all tells that he was lying. Reyna could read Jason Grace like an open book, sometimes.

"But Jason-"

"You didn't need to know Piper." The daughter of Venus gave Jason a hard look. Jason sighed and explained further. "It's," He glanced at her and Reyna gave him a questioning look, "it's personal, okay?"

Piper crossed her arms and nodded. The look on her face screamed, you're-explaining-later. Jason shoved his hands in his pockets and turned his attention on her. Everything that had happened in the past few months came boiling to the surface. All the late nights she spent alone, all the anger, the confusion, and the fear. She wanted to yell at him like Annabeth was yelling at Percy, she wanted to hit him, and she wanted to blame him, even though it wasn't his fault. Blood roared in her ears, but she pushed the fury aside. This was the gods doing, not Jason's. It was all part of the prophecy, destined to happen. The past was the past, he was here now, alive and well, and that was more than she could ever ask for.

"I'm glad you're back."

Jason studied her. "So am I." He replied carefully.

"We'll talk later." Jason nodded, seeming to understand her lack of emotion, her need to sort through everything. Of everyone she knew, with the exception of Hylla, he always understood the most.

Reyna turned and looked at Percy. He seemed to be in one piece, which was surprising considering how upset his girlfriend had been. As if sensing her stare, he stepped away from Annabeth and looked at her. Her gaze slid past the son of Neptune, to the blond Greek who looked as if she were seconds away from losing it. Annabeth discreetly brushed the tears from her cheeks and re-tied her ponytail. Gone was the overwhelmed girl, replaced by a steel gazed Greek hero.

"What?"

Reyna ignored Annabeth's question and looked back at Percy. "Are you ready?"

"For dinner?" Percy questioned.

Reyna took a deep breath and resisted the urge to role her eyes. Argentum pressed against her leg and she rested her hand on the greyhound's head. "The legion is going to be hostile. People will talk, comments will be made and questions asked." She glanced at Annabeth again, and Percy grasped the girl's hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "They are going to be merciless and I can tell you now that your relationship with the daughter of Minerva will be the biggest target."

"What exactly are you asking of me?" Percy's tone had taken on a dangerous edge.

"I'm asking you to handle everything with a level head. The second you lash out, they will tear you apart. Don't rise to the bait, ignore the comments, look past the glares and for the love of Olympus don't start a fight with Octavian."

Percy grinned. "Relax, I'll behave."

Reyna found that hard to believe, but hopefully his girlfriend would be able to keep him under control. The dark haired Greek, who had been lounging in one the chairs got to his feet and stretched.

"You make it sound like we're about to walk into a lion's den."

"More like a wolf's den." She whispered. Through the open doors of the Senate House, Reyna could just see the pavilion. The windows were alight with the flames of the braziers that circled the couches and inside the large glass and marble building two hundred and fifty demigods were discussing the arrival of their enemies, and hopefully, soon to be allies.

"There's a reason the motto of Rome is conquer or die."

Reyna laughed. Jason had no idea how right he was. "Alright," she straightened a medal handing from her toga, "let's get this over with."

She strode to the open doors and down the stairs, Percy behind her, his hand still in Annabeth's. The other two Greeks stuck close to Jason, who kept pace beside her as they made their way quickly up the road, toward Terminus. She tried not to let the fact that Jason was walking beside her, like old times, once again, after so many months, distract her. If Percy, Jason and the Greeks were going to survive dinner, she had to be completely focused; otherwise she would get caught up in the taunts and start a fight, and the gods knew Octavian was just waiting for a reason to prove she was unqualified.

**Frank**

"So," Frank tightened a strap on his armor, "how badly do you think we're going to lose tonight?"

At the end of a very awkward and hostile dinner, Reyna had announced that Octavian would be the referee of the war games. Though no one dared protest, Frank knew that at least half the legion was unhappy with Reyna's decision.

"Considering that Octavian is the referee, we're defending a half-finished fort and the First, Second and Fourth cohorts get Hannibal," Hazel tied her hair back with a leather string, "I say we'll all be dead before the tenth person breaches the wall."

"It's just not fair!" Frank cried.

Tommy, a legacy of Janus, glanced at him. "Story of the Fifth."

"No, it's actually the motto of the Fifth." Dakota, who had been arguing with Octavian, walked over to them.

The Fifth was sitting along the four foot wall of the fort. The wall was so small that it would simply act as a launching pad for the attacking demigods once the games began.

"I thought our motto was Greeks and geeks?" Hazel replied sarcastically.

Dakota gave her a wry grin. "That too."

"Hey, speaking of Greeks," everyone turned to look at Gwen, who was standing with the centurions of the Third, "where's Percy?"

"In the principia with Reyna." Frank couldn't help but add, "That's why we're going to lose."

Gwen frowned. "Why is it that our best soldiers are always unavailable, or missing?"

Before anyone could answer, a messenger came running down the road and onto the field. Frank had always wished that he had had reference letters that would have gotten him a job as a messenger. They were almost always excused from war games and when they had to play they were usually a part of a cohort that won.

The messenger handed the note he carried to Octavian, who ripped it open with the knife he usually used when gutting teddy bears. As he read the note, Octavian's cold eyes narrowed. Frank's stomach knotted and then dropped to his shoes when the augur looked at him, or rather, who was next to him.

"Hazel Levesque." Hazel looked up from her spatha, which she was polishing in her lap and stared at Octavian. "The praetor wishes to speak with you in the Principia."

Frank couldn't help but notice how Octavian didn't use the plural form, clearly refusing to acknowledge Percy as his praetor.

"Oh come on!" Dakota threw his flask on the ground, and everyone froze. "You," the son of Bacchus pointed at Octavian, "are setting my cohort up to fail. We have nothing but this heap of rubble and now you want to send one of my best soldiers away."

Frank caught the flush on Hazel's cheeks and he wondered whether it was from Dakota's praise or the fact that she was causing an argument.

"I," Octavian placed a hand on his chest and waved the note in front of him, "haven't ordered your legionnaire anywhere. Reyna is the one who has caused your disadvantage."

Dakota went from upset, to livid. People weren't kidding when they said Octavian could twist anything to benefit him. Dakota took a few steps towards the augur, growling something in Latin.

Cold fire burned in Octavian's eyes. "Watch yourself Dakota. Don't forget that I outrank you."

"I don't care if you're Jupiter Optimus Maximus, I'm going to-"

"Dakota!"

Everything seemed to stop. The tension in the air began to dissipate, and the crowd behind Octavian parted. A boy strode through the crowd, armor polished so that the light from the braziers reflected off it. The boy didn't seem to notice the looks he was getting from the people around him and carried himself with confidence and ease. As the boy walked past Octavian, he made sure to knock into the augur's shoulder. It must have been a hard hit because Octavian was almost knocked to the ground.

A few people laughed and the boy had a small smile on his face as he clasped a hand on Dakota's shoulder. "Relax, I'll fill in for Hazel."

Octavian looked as if he were about to explode. Dakota turned to face them, draping an arm around the boy's shoulders. "Gwen," Gwen rolled her eyes at Dakota's ecstatic and slightly crazed expression, "I do believe our luck is beginning to change."

"I do believe you're right." Gwen said.

Dakota and the boy walked forward to stand beside her. Dakota threw a taunting look over his shoulder at Octavian, who was still standing with his fists and jaw clenched.

"We may just have a victory for the Fifth tonight!"

The Fifth answered Dakota with cries of, "Ave, Jason!"

"Well, good luck." Frank tore his gaze away from Jason and Octavian's furious face, to look at Hazel. "I'd better go see what Reyna and Percy want."

As she climbed the hill to the road, Frank shouted after her, above the din of voices and clanking armor. "Tell Percy I, Dakota and probably the rest of the cohort are going to kick his podex for missing this game."

Hazel turned to look at him as she made her way toward the principia. Her smile was bright and as lame and clichéd as it seemed, he really did think that it lit up the night. "Don't worry, you've got Jason, you don't need Percy."

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><p><strong>Now, this chapter was about 2,500 words longer, but I grew tired of deleting nasty reviews and PM's, so I cut out the end (which was un-revised) and posted the "chapter". Thus the reason why it ends so abruptly.<strong>

**We'll hear from Hazel in the beginning of the next chapter, and perhaps I'll give you, if everyone is respectful, a little Percebeth fluff, possibly even some Jeyna fluff...who knows.**

**Please review, and I appologize for my rant.**


	3. Chapter 3 Under the Sea

**Decided not to bore you with meetings this chapter.**

**One thing led to another, and well, you'll see.**

**Any dialogue in italics is being spoken in Latin or Greek depending on the speaker.**

**Also, if it isn't clear, this story is un-beta'd.**

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><p><strong>Reyna<strong>

Aurum and Argentum raced through the door the second she opened it. With a small smile, Reyna watched as the two greyhounds raced each other to the barracks. She followed the dogs slowly, taking in the silent camp. Almost everyone was still asleep, even the Lares were nowhere to be seen. The braziers had just been extinguished; smoke curling up into the still dark sky. This was her favorite time of day, the brink of dawn. The dogs came bounding back to her and nipped at her heels playfully. Laughing, she gave in and ran the rest of the way to the barracks, Aurum and Argentum racing alongside her.

A sleepy eyed Jacob saluted her as she turned the corner. Reyna nodded and straightened the medals on her chest. Once she took her customary position at the head of the street the barracks were on, she gave Jacob a nod. The eagle bearer lifted the staff and brought it back down, hard. Whit hot lightning arced into the sky. It was a signal to the sentries on the Decamanian gate to sound the call to muster. A shrill horn blared, the ear piercing noise echoing throughout the camp.

"_Up! Up!" _The centurions appeared, fully dressed, at the doors of the barracks.

From each cohort, one centurion raced down to the road, prepared to get their legionnaires into position. The other centurion held the door open, and yelled at the campers to hurry up.

"_On your feet!"_

The horn blared again.

"_Move! Move! Move!"_

**Percy**

Percy groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. He had spent half the night in the principia, "debriefing" Annabeth, Leo, Piper and Jason. Not only had they discussed the prophecy, but the disappearance of Nico. Annabeth looked surprised, too surprised, when Percy told her that Nico was a senator, and he couldn't help but wonder if she knew more than she was letting on. Poor Hazel was devastated when Reyna told her that Camp Jupiter would not be contributing any supplies or assistance in the effort to rescue Nico, her reason being that Nico was a Greek, and thus Camp Half Blood's concern. Percy had tried to argue with her, but the daughter of Bellona had given him a glare that would have had Kronos cowering. The meeting had progressed in classic demigod fashion, with lots of questions and interruptions. By the time it was over, he was half awake and couldn't even manage to walk Annabeth to her hotel in New Rome.

The horn blared again and he swore. Why did the Romans insist on waking up at an ungodly hour? Suddenly the pillow was ripped from his grasp and he was spinning. He hit the floor hard and found himself looking up at a grinning Dakota.

"What the Hades, man?"

"Morning." Dakota took a sip from his flask. "You better get your podex moving, you're supposed to be outside with Reyna already."

He swore again and jumped to his feet, pulling on his armor hastily. By the time he was dressed, the legion was almost assembled. He jogged down the road, trying to ignore the taunts and looks. When he reached Reyna, he gave her a nod, but the daughter of Bellona didn't even glance at him. With a sigh, he tied his cape around his neck and turned to face the legion.

"Your armor is crooked." Reyna whispered.

Percy glanced down at his breastplate, which was indeed crooked. Shaking his head, he straightened it while Reyna stepped forward and addressed the legion.

Twenty minutes later, and he was still trying to straighten his armor. Roman armor was so much more complicated than Greek armor. There were a lot more pieces, and straps and buckles and laces, it was a wonder anyone could outfit themselves in it.

"Need some help?"

Startled, Percy glanced up and found Annabeth standing in front of him. It was so loud on the Via Praetoria, what with all the vendors and fawns begging for denari, that he hadn't heard her approach. Attempting one last time to fix it himself, and failing, he sighed and nodded his head.

She rolled her eyes and stepped closer, so close that he could smell her shampoo. "You know," with ease, she undid buckles and re-tied laces, "after spending so many years at camp, you think you would learn how to put your armor on."

"I've only been here for five days, three of which were spent in Alaska."

Annabeth tied the last knot and stepped back. He glanced down, and surveyed her work. Everything was in place, even his medals were pinned on in a perfect line. He couldn't help but think Reyna would be impressed with Annabeth's attention to detail. Satisfied with her work, Annabeth turned, but Percy stopped her. With a smirk, he tugged her closer. He hadn't gotten a chance to give her a proper hello last night. Just as he was about to brush his lips against hers, a voice called out.

"Percy!"

"Son of Medusa." He mumbled.

Annabeth flicked her eyes open. She was so close that he could see the small, almost blue flecks in her storm grey eyes.

"Percy!"

He turned and glanced over his shoulder. Reyna was jogging toward him, Argentum and Aurum on her heels. Reluctantly, he let go of Annabeth and turned toward Reyna.

"You have the worst timing."

Reyna didn't seem to notice his sarcasm, or maybe she did and he just couldn't tell.

"We received an interesting report this morning." Reyna handed him a piece of paper, but he didn't try to read it. His brain was hardwired for Greek, not Latin. "One of our business partners down at the pier has spotted mermen in the water."

"Mermen?" Annabeth stepped forward and took the report out of his hand. Reyna didn't look happy with the fact that she was reading the report.

"Yes," Reyna said hello to the coffee vender behind them, and while she was distracted, Percy slipped the report out of Annabeth's hand, promising to explain later. "Apparently, the mermen want to speak with us."

Percy frowned. "How do you know that?"

Reyna sighed and motioned to the report in his hand. "You really need to work on your Latin. The mermen carved your name and a crossed sword and torch into the hull of every boat in the marina."

"Well, I'd say they want to speak with us."

Reyna took the report back and turned, heading back toward the camp. Percy took that as his cue to follow, Annabeth keeping pace with him. As they headed back toward the camp, Reyna cast a sidelong glance at Annabeth.

"She has to stay here, Percy."

"She has a name," Annabeth glared at Reyna, and Percy tried not to laugh, "and can hear you."

They stopped at the top of the Vie Praetoria. Octavian and some kid Percy had never seen before were waiting for them. Octavian looked like his usual psychopathic self, complete with a scheming look that sent chills down Percy's spine.

"Percy," Reyna nodded to the boy standing next to Octavian, "this is Julian, son of Mercury and legacy of Vulcan."

Julian was tall and thin, but not skinny like Octavian. He had dark brown hair and bright green eyes. He was a lot like the Stoll brothers, same angular features and mischievous smirk.

"Praetor." Julian nodded, and Percy returned the acknowledgement.

"Julian will be accompanying us to the marina-"

"Annabeth!"

Everyone turned toward the voice. Jason, followed by Piper and Leo, emerged from the crowd on the Via Praetoria. Octavian shot Jason a glare, which the son of Jupiter returned.

"Hey," Jason gave Annabeth a smile and Percy tried to suppress the urge to wrap an arm around her shoulders protectively, "we woke up and found you had already left. We've been looking everywhere for you, I was worried that you had gotten lost in the city-"

"Legionnaire, why aren't you with your cohort?"

Jason looked at Reyna, confused. "What?"

Octavian shouldered his way to stand next to Reyna. "You're supposed to be in the stables with the rest of your sorry excuse for a cohort."

Jason clenched his fist and Percy waited for him to punch Octavian, but Reyna intervened.

"Grace," Jason didn't look too happy with the fact that Reyna was addressing him by his last name, "you were not present at muster, and thus earned the Fifth a week of stable duties."

"I didn't know I was supposed to be present at muster." Jason's voice was clam, but his blue eyes were hard.

"You are a member of this legion, are you not?"

If Jason didn't punch Octavian soon, he was going to. Percy would love nothing more than to wipe that sneer from the augur's face and remind him of his place.

"I'll go and find them immediately praetor." Jason pushed his way past Octavian and Julian, who both gave him glares and muttered something in Latin.

Percy glanced at Reyna, surprised that she didn't call Octavian out. The daughter of Bellona was watching Jason, a pained expression on her face. Sensing his stare, she turned, quickly replacing the emotionless mask she always wore.

"We should get going. Octavian, you and Gwen are in charge while Percy and I are gone."

Octavian nodded. You would have thought that the augur had just defeated Gaia, single handily, by the pleased look on his little rat face. Gods, how Percy wished he could just punch him, just once.

Reyna looked from Annabeth, who was at his side, to Leo and Piper who were speaking with a fawn. "Octavian," Percy felt his stomach drop, "before you head to the Coliseum, find Marcus and have him show the Greeks around."

The pleased expression slipped from Octavian's face. "Yes praetor."

With a dramatic sigh, Octavian left Reyna's side and started down the Via Praetoria. As the augur pushed past Percy, he called out for the Greeks to fall in. Annabeth cast him a look he couldn't decipher, before she grabbed Leo and Piper, and followed Octavian. Percy watched as Octavian led the way toward the city. People made way for him, like they did for Reyna, but the people also glared at his retreating figure and made comments under their breath. It was one thing to be feared, he mused, and another to be respected.

**Reyna**

"They spelled my name wrong."

Reyna opened the door to the van and jumped out. The smell of brine and fish hit her like a Cyclopes club. She hated the marina. It was too crowded, too organized and too calm. She liked hearing the waves crash against the rocks, or crawl up the sand, not lap against the hull of boats. She liked being able to see out to the horizon, to see the storms rolling in. On the marina, all one could see were masts, docks and the fish factory. On Acea, all one could see was the ocean, and at home, her real home, the water was so close to the house that her father…Reyna shook her head, and tried to suppress the memories.

She walked around the van and stood next to Percy. Every boat in the marina had either a crossed sword and torch carved into it, or Percy's name, which was spelled with an s instead of a c. Julian hoped out of the driver's seat and came to stand next to her, stuffing his hands in his back pockets while he surveyed the scene.

"What do you think?" Reyna hated the fact that her voice seemed to echo through the marina, bouncing off the hulls of the ships.

Julian glanced at her with a small smirk. "I think that Lord Neptune needs to hire a new grammar teacher."

Reyna gave him a warning look. Julian simply shrugged and turned his attention back to the quiet marina. It had never really occurred to her how tall Julian was. The son of Mercury had at least six inches on her, which was surprising, because she was pretty tall.

"There."

Reyna followed the line of Percy's arm. At the head of the floating dock, the water was churning. Percy started down the metal ramp, and she followed, Julian right behind her. The dock swayed under their weight, and Reyna kept to the very middle, not wanting to lose her footing and end up falling into the hull of a boat. The particular dock they were on was very long, perhaps the longest in the marina. It was a short ride or swim, from the end of it to open water.

A head popped up, and they froze. Brown scraggly hair, which looked like seaweed, floated on top of the water around the merman's head. Dark, fathomless eyes regarded them coldly. Instinctively, Reyna rested a hand on the hilt of her dagger. The water on either side of them was churning, and she could just make out the glint of scales beneath the water's surface.

She tapped Percy's foot with the end of her spear, but he didn't look away from the merman. "I don't like this," she glanced warily at the water again, "something feels off."

"It's fine, they won't do anything to us."

She risked a glance back at Julian. The son of Mercury shook his head, his green eyes scanning, jumping from one thing to the other, trying to keep an eye on everything all at once. When she looked back at the merman, she was horrified to see that it was smiling at them. Sharp, serrated teeth gleamed in the weak sunlight. Like something out of nightmare, the merman raised a grey, scaly, webbed hand and beckoned for them to come closer.

Percy started to walk forward, and reluctantly she followed. Behind her, Julian whispered a string of curses that would have had Lupa clawing her ears off. Once they got about twelve feet from the edge of the dock, Percy signaled for her and Julian to stop. Something was definitely off; the water was too still, the air too heavy. She tried to follow Percy as he kept walking, but he stopped her.

"Percy." She hissed.

"Just wait here Reyna; you won't be able to understand them." Was it here imagination, or did the merman at the end of the dock just narrow his eyes? "Relax," Percy gave her a crooked smile, "they won't hurt us, they serve my father."

Reyna kept her eyes glued to him as he covered the last couple of feet. She wasn't about to take her eyes off him, or the creepy sea creature he was so close to. The merman glanced at her, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. _Something isn't right_, her senses whispered. S_omething's off._ She tried to get ahold of her rising panic as Percy took a knee and leaned toward the merman. _It's too quiet_, she glanced to her right, at the boats and the calm water, _the water is too still, the ocean is never still_. In the corner of her vision, she saw Percy shift forward slightly. Horrified, she whipped her head toward him. The merman glanced at her again and she fought the urge to pull her dagger and throw it at the creature. _Something's wrong…_

She jumped when Julian grabbed her arm. Nervous and furious that the guy had almost made her jump nine feet in the air, she turned toward him slightly, but once she got a look at his face, her sharp words died in her throat. Julian, a boy who had served in the legion for seven years, one of the legionnaires who had been in the first wave to storm Mount Tam, looked absolutely petrified. Almost against her will, she followed his gaze. What she saw made her sick.

A man, who looked to be about sixty years old, was hanging from the supports of the fish factory by his hands. His arms were spread to either side, and lashed to beams. His bare feet were resting on the edge of a sign and his mouth was open in a frozen scream. The man, Camp Jupiter's contact at the marina, had been crucified. _RUN, _her senses screamed.

"Percy!" She turned just in time to see the merman at the end of the dock surge forward and wrap its scaly arms around the son of Neptune.

There was a splash, and then the water was churning. The other mermen, the one's she had seen swimming alongside the dock, were racing toward where Percy had been dragged under. No matter how powerful he was, Percy didn't stand a chance against all those mermen. She thrust her spear into Julian's hand and shouted instructions. While the son of Mercury fended off a few mermen who were trying to pull him in the water, Reyna did what her sense had been screaming at her to do, she ran. _Run, _she could hear Lupa's voice in her head, snarling at her to _run. _With practiced ease, she unsheathed her dagger and dropped to her knees. Her momentum and the wet wood caused her to slide forward, making her slash at the merman above her much more effective. She got to her feet and continued her sprint to the end of the dock. When she hit the edge, she held her dagger in between her hands, and dived into the water.

**Jason**

Jason wasn't prepared for the beating he received from the Fifth cohort. To say his friends were upset with him was an understatement. Every muscle in his body ached as he cleaned out one of the unicorn stalls.

"So," Jason looked through the bars of the stall, into the one next to him, were Gwen was, "good to be home?"

Jason tried not to breathe too deeply when he replied. "Of course, I can't tell you how much I've missed cleaning out the stables."

"Have no fear; I have a good feeling that we'll be doing this a lot this year."

Jason groaned. "Gods Gwen, I hope you're wrong."

Gwen didn't laugh, or respond. Worried, he stopped working and walked up to the bars separating them.

"Gwen?"

The daughter of Apollo kept working, a frown on her pretty face. After a few minutes she paused and looked at him. Her expression was serious, and he hoped he wasn't about to get a lecture.

"Are you really glad to be home, Jason?"

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" He had a general idea were this conversation was about to go, and prayed to the gods that Gwen would just drop it and continue working.

"I don't know," Gwen shrugged and brushed a strand of hair from her face, "you just seem…different."

Jason turned away from her and got back to work. He didn't want to have this conversation right now.

"You seem to have gotten very close to the Greeks."

Jason kept shoveling and tried to block out her voice.

"Everyone was surprised." Though he had his back to her, Jason knew Gwen had walked up to the bars of the stall. "Especially Reyna."

**Reyna**

The water was icy cold. Reyna tried to suppress the urge to gasp as she sliced through the water. She could barely see anything in the dark, murky water of the marina. Ahead of her, tails and weapons flashed. Mermen were rushing past her, and she struck out after them.

She had thought Percy was a maniac on land, twisting, diving and slashing, but in the water he was something else. Though there were hundreds of them, the mermen were having a hard time getting ahold of the son of Neptune. Some of the mermen spotted her, and turned away from Percy. It was hard and awkward fighting under the water, but she eventually got the hang of it. Luckily, Percy had seen her, and had created an air bubble around her head so that she could breathe.

Reyna was handling herself well; three mermen had already sunk towards the bottom, while eight more had swum away. Just as she was about to swim to Percy's side to help him out, something wrapped around her ankle and pulled her down. As she went down, the air bubble around her head ruptured. She kicked at the merman that was dragging her to the bottom, trying to break its vice like grip on her ankle. Just as the bottom came into few, her foot connected with the side of the merman's head. Never in her life was she more thankful of her steal plated combat boots.

The merman's head bent at a strange angle, and Reyna didn't need to hear the crack to know that she had broken its neck. Her lungs were burning and she started to claw her way back to the surface. It would have been much easier to swim if she wasn't wearing thirty pounds worth of armor. As she fought her way to the surface, she caught a glimpse of Percy. He was still fighting, but it was clear that he was growing tired. As she watched, a merman swam in behind him and with the hilt of its mini trident, struck Percy in the temple.

The son of Neptune jerked, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Blood bloomed in the water and she wanted nothing more than to swim over to him and kill the creature that had struck him, but black dots were beginning to form in front of her eyes and her lungs were about to burst. She broke the surface and gasped. Before she could submerge again, someone grabbed ahold of her armor and pulled her up. Julian was leaning over the side of a very expensive and fast looking speedboat. With the help of the son of Mercury, she pulled herself into the boat.

"Percy-"

"I know, the water went still and I saw the cloud of blood."

Julian put the boat into gear and turned it toward open water. The speedboat took off like a shot, and she had to grab ahold of the side to keep from sliding to the back. Through the spray, Reyna could just make out the glinting backs of mermen as they raced out of the marina. Hastily, she began to undo the clasps and ties of her armor.

"What are you doing?" Julian shouted above the wind.

Reyna didn't answer him, she kept unhooking buckles. Her breastplate clanged against the bottom of the boat. With that off, she stood and signaled for Julian to go left. As the boat took a sharp turn, she dived off of it and cut through the water toward the mermen dragging Percy. Without her breastplate and shin guards she was able to swim much faster. Her boots still dragged her down slightly, but she wasn't going to risk fighting the mermen without them.

The three mermen holding Percy let him go and raced toward her. Just as the first two were about to ram into her, a golden spear, her spear, sliced through the water and skewered them. Reyna thanked Mercury for Julian and kicked the third merman in the face as he approached her. Unfortunately, she didn't break its neck and had to get a few more blows in. As the merman began to sink, black blood pouring out of its wounds, she kicked to the surface and drew in a much needed breath.

Almost instantly, she went back under, swimming toward the place were Percy had been. The water was much deeper here, and she prayed to every god she knew that she would be able to get ahold of Percy before he sank to the bottom. Someone must have been listening, because just as she was about to start for the surface, she saw bubbles. Willing her exhausted and oxygen deprived body to keep going, she caught sight of Percy.

Somehow, someway, she reached him and grasped him under his arms. Unlike her, he was still in full armor and it was nearly impossible to swim while holding onto him. It would have been difficult to swim with Percy if he wasn't in full armor. She was strong, but Percy was deadweight.

By the grace of the gods, she reached the surface. Julian heaved her, and Percy aboard, and then turned the boat to shore. Once she got her bearings, Reyna crawled over to Percy, who was ominously still. She started to pump the water from his lungs, whispering the whole time, "Don't die on me you idiot, I didn't drag your podex from the bottom of the ocean for nothing."

Just when she was starting to panic, Percy came to life. He coughed, and water bubbled out of his mouth. With shaking hands, she rolled him onto his side. Percy kept coughing, trying to dispel the salt water from his lungs. After a few seconds, he drew in a ragged breath and relief washed over her. She leaned back against the side of the boat, the adrenaline that had been coursing through her veins was receding and exhaustion was creeping in.

Percy righted himself and sat next to her. She forced her eyes open and glanced sideways at him. His sea green eyes were full of sorrow and steal like determination. Blood stained one of his cheeks and ran down his neck, staining the collar of his soaked t-shirt. He reached up and brushed the hair plastered to his forehead back, wincing as he touched his temple.

"Thanks." It was just a breath, but she heard it above the roar of the speedboat's engine.

She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder, letting the black wave that had been threatening to take over engulf her.

**Jason**

A horn blared and everyone in the dining pavilion froze. Jason waited tensely for a second blast, which would indicate to the legion that they were being called to arms, but a second blast didn't sound, bells did. Octavian, who was sitting at the head of the First Cohort's table on the other side of the pavilion, was on his feet and down the stairs before the bells chimed a third time. Gwen and a few other legionnaires got to they're feet and followed Octavian out of the pavilion.

"Annabeth," Jason stood and motioned to the daughter of Athena, "follow me."

Dakota and none of the other centurions protested as he and Annabeth walked out of the pavilion. Once they were down the stairs and on the road, Annabeth stopped him.

"Jason, what's going on?"

Jason grabbed her arm and dragged her forward. He broke into a jog, trying to keep up with Octavian and Gwen. The four legionnaires who had followed Gwen out of the pavilion were already specks in the distance, sprinting toward the gates.

"Jason!"

Jason glanced at Annabeth. "The horn that you just heard is a signal from the sentries that Reyna's party is back."

The bells rang again, and ahead of them, Octavian and Gwen broke from a jog into a run. Annabeth didn't even glance at him as she chased after the two centurions.

"What do the bells mean?" The daughter of Athena shouted at him.

"Someone is hurt."

If it were even possible, Annabeth poured on more speed. Jason struggled to keep up with her. As they ran to the infirmary, he prayed to the gods that it was Julian who was hurt.

**Octavian**

Octavian burst through the doors of the infirmary and made his way straight to Reyna. She was sitting on a cot, a medic leaning over her with a mini flashlight. Besides the few shallow cuts on her upper arms and the fact that she was soaking wet, she looked fine. She irritably pushed the medic's hand away and ordered him to go take care of Percy.

The Greek was laying on a high table, two, and now three, medics hovering over him. Julian, who was the only one out of the party not dripping, stood near the table, debriefing Ethan, the head medic of Camp Jupiter about what happened. Octavian nodded at Julian and then walked over to Reyna. He pulled the cot next to her closer and sat down. The daughter of Bellona had her elbows on her knees, her head in her hands.

Gently, he reached out and laid a hand on her arm. "Hey, are you-"

"I'm fine," she raised her head and glanced at the doors. Octavian turned, but when he realized it was only Gwen, he returned his attention back to Reyna. "I'm fine," she repeated, "just a little dizzy…"

"Grace!" What the Pluto, why was he here? Octavian poured all the venom he could muster into his voice. "Get out."

Jason glared at him, the daughter of Minerva next to him, her eyes glued to Percy and the medics swarming around him.

He started to stand. "Get out Grace, now, before I-"

Reyna grabbed the front of his toga and he sat back down, what he was about to do to the Son of Jupiter forgotten.

"Octavian, I can't-" Reyna's hand was shaking and her dark eyes were wide.

"Reyna, what's-" He grasped her upper arms as her grip on his toga loosened. Octavian was aware of the fact that more people were walking into the infirmary, but he wasn't about to look away from the girl in front of him. Something was wrong, Reyna was pale and trembling.

"Spinning," she whispered before her dark eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body jerked.

"Reyna!"

Swearing, he pushed her back onto the cot as she seized, trying to keep her still so as to minimize injury. Someone, probably Jason, got ahold of her legs and pinned them down. He screamed for Ethan, all semblance of control gone. What the Pluto happened at the marina, he thought. Ethan, a fourteen year old son of Apollo, gave an order for everyone to get out with so much authority Reyna would have obeyed. The head medic felt Reyna's pulse and gave her a quick once over, then turned to the two people checking out Percy and called for them to start injecting him with nectar.

Octavian knew that injecting someone with nectar was something that was only done in dire situations. Reyna stopped seizing and he fought to get himself under control. Ethan motioned for him to get out of the way, and he did, reluctantly. Beside him, Gwen was telling Jason to go wait outside, to go calm everyone down. He should be doing that, he thought. With a last glance at Ethan, who was busy injecting Reyna with nectar and instructing his workers to strap her down in case she seized again, he left the infirmary.

"Octavian!" A beautiful strawberry blonde girl marched up to him, her face twisted in fury. "What the Tarturus is going on?"

He ignored the girl and pushed his way through the gathering crowd toward Julian. Once he reached him, he grasped the son of Mercury by his shirt collar and swung him around so that he could stare at him.

"_What happened at the marina?"_ Julian just stared at him and he shook the boy angrily. _"WHAT HAPPENED?"_

"Octavian," Gwen un-fisted his hands from Julian's shirt and pushed him back, "let him be, he's in shook."

Swearing he stepped away and began to pace in front of the infirmary doors. People were shouting questions out to him and he wanted nothing more for them to just disappear. Someone grabbed ahold of his arm, and he jerked away. The girl who had yelled at him earlier crossed her arms and stared him down.

"What's going on?"

"I don't-"

The girl threw her hands up. "Well, did she say anything? Is she hurt? Is she going to be okay?"

He swore and gripped the back of his neck with his hand. "She was fine," people started to crowd around him, "she was talking to me and then, and then she just…"

Someone shoved him, hard. _"What did she say to you?"_

Octavian glared at Jason. The son of Jupiter looked absolutely furious, as if it was his fault Reyna was hurt. His blue eyes reflected the flames of the braziers in front of the infirmary doors, and the air seemed to crackle around him.

"Nothing!" He pointed at the closed infirmary doors aimlessly. "Nothing important, she said she was fine, and then," he glared at Jason, "you walked in and I turned away for a second-"

The strawberry blonde turned him to face her. "She must have said something Octavian, Gwen said you were talking with her-"

He clasped his hands behind his head. "She said she was fine." He ground out. "Then she grabbed my toga and whispered that she was spinning."

"Spinning?" Jason's voice was hard.

The girl asked him something in Latin, but he wasn't listening. He should have known, he shouldn't have let her go. It was too strange; the report didn't make any sense. Why would the mer-people want to speak with Percy and Reyna? It was a trap, he had a feeling, he _knew_ that something was going to go wrong. A woman, one of the Amazons, was pushing her way through the crowd. It was Reyna's sister, and she was demanding to know who was in charge, who was responsible.

"_This is all your fault."_ Jason hissed at him.

Reyna's sister was yelling at the campers to tell her who was in charge. The girl, Kelsey, his fellow centurion of the First, reached out for him again.

"Octavian-"

He couldn't take it anymore. He lashed out at the closest thing to him, which happened to be one of the braziers in front of the infirmary doors. The iron brazier toppled over, burning wood and embers scattering down the steps. People yelled in surprise, but he couldn't focus on anything but Jason's comment, _It's all my fault_.

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><p><strong>So, nice long chapter, updated in a timely fashion, you're welcome.<strong>

**Fun fact, mer-people freak me out. Whenever I think of a mermaid or merman, I think of the mer people from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. J.K. Rowling officially ruined the Little Mermaid for me, but I still love her work.**

**Oh Percy and Annabeth, will those two ever get to kiss? (The answer is yes, though I'm not telling you when.)**

**Do we like hearing from Octavian? Let me know in your review! In case you were wondering, his part was not a part of the infamous Octavian oneshot, that will come up later in the story, I'll let you know when.**

**So, I know I said there would be fluff in this chapter, but I decided to put it off until the next one. There will be much needed Percebeth fluff,and some Jeyna fluff.**

**I'd love to hear your thoughts about what is wrong with Reyna and Percy, and what you think will happen the next chapter. Do you think Percy will finally get to kiss Annabeth, the poor girl has only been waiting eight months.**

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4 Stolen Clothes

**Back from a long break, would appreciate reviews from all you wonderful people on this chapter, specifically the Percy/Annabeth dialogue...want to know how I've faired in writing their banter.**

**Anything in italics in "" is being spoken either in Latin or Greek, depending on the speaker, that is, if the language is not already mentioned.**

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><p><strong>Reyna<strong>

Reyna felt like she was floating, floating in an endless blackness. She knew she wasn't dead, because if she were dead, Charon would be asking her for a coin and she would be looking for the door Gwen had escaped from. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move, or yell, or even see anything other than darkness. Panic began to well inside her, did the mermen catch them? She remembered Percy thanking her, and talking to Octavian, but what if she had imagined all of that? _Get ahold of yourself_, Marcus' voice screamed in her head, _Romans don't panic._

"_Reyna."_

She tried to turn her head, but nothing happened.

"_Reyna."_

She tried to call out, to see past the blackness, but no matter how much she struggled, nothing happened.

**Percy**

Percy stared up at the ceiling of the infirmary. It was tiled, like the ceiling in the principia, but thankfully the mosaic wasn't of the gods staring down at him. The mosaic was one of the sky, either on the brink of dawn or night. Scattered randomly amongst the thousands of dark blue tiles were what looked like fragments of a mirror that represented the stars. It was intricate, yet simple, and absolutely beautiful. He couldn't help but wonder who had created it.

With a sigh, he picked his head up and glanced over at the cot Reyna was lying on. The daughter of Bellona looked vulnerable in her wrinkled purple t-shirt and torn jeans. Her dark hair had come out of her braid, or perhaps someone had taken it out, because her hair spilled across her pillow. She was flushed, a side effect of all the nectar and ambrosia she had been given, but otherwise looked okay, for the time being.

Ethan, the head medic, was curled up in an uncomfortable looking chair next to Reyna's cot. The son of Apollo was young, thirteen or fourteen if he had to guess, and looked even younger in sleep. Like most of Apollo's kids, he had light hair, which curled and fell into his eyes. Percy had no idea how Ethan knew what was wrong with Reyna. After the boy had gotten everyone out, he had questioned Percy about the type of weapons the merman had been carrying. Apparently the mermen's knives, which were made from the sharp edges of clamshells, were commonly rubbed against some poisonous water plant that was extremely deadly blah, blah, blah. Long story short, it was a miracle Reyna was alive and even more of a phenomenon that he hadn't been infected. Probably had something to do with the whole, son of the sea god thing.

Percy looked away from Reyna and let his head fall back on the pile of pillows behind him. One of the other medics had been kind enough to give him a bunch so that he could sit up comfortably. Ethan had been upset, saying something about head contusion and needing to lie flat, but Percy had just given him, your-praetor-will-do-what-he-wants look, a look he had learned from Reyna. As he stared at the ceiling, he couldn't help but think about Blackjack. The Pegasus loved going for a fly over the sound at night.

"Orion's belt is in the wrong place."

Percy almost fell off the cot. He wiped his head up and immediately regretted his decision as the room blurred and spun before his eyes. Trying to get everything to come back into focus, he rubbed his eyes. Next to him, perched on the edge of an empty cot was Annabeth, who was still a bit fuzzy around the edges. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed, her hair thrown into a loose and sloppy ponytail. Curls framed her face, and she brushed them behind her ear, only to have them fall forward again, when she turned to look at him.

"It's supposed to be more to the west."

Percy smiled. "Nice outfit."

Annabeth didn't glance down at her black sweatpants and faded green t-shirt, which seemed a size too big for her.

"You too," she pointed at his collar, "I especially like the blood stain."

"How did you get in here?"

She held up her Yankees cap. "I went back to the hotel and waited for Piper and Leo to go to sleep, and then I walked back here and slipped inside while one of the medics was leaving."

He laughed quietly. "Do I even want to know how you got past Terminus?"

She smiled. "Probably not."

"You know," he sat up a little straighter and turned toward her slightly, "I'm pretty sure your mom didn't give you that cap so that you could sneak out and see your boyfriend."

Annabeth shrugged and picked her feet up, crossing her legs Indian style. As she moved, the logo on the leg of the sweatpants became visible. Goode High was printed in white block letters on the bottom of the left leg. He frowned and took a closer look at her t-shirt.

"Are you wearing my clothes?"

"Maybe." She played with her baseball cap, her cheeks a bit pink.

Percy wasn't upset, he liked the fact that she wore his clothes and loved how she looked in them. As caveman as it sounded, when she was wearing something of his it felt like she was acknowledging his claim of her, not that he saw Annabeth as a possession or anything, it was just…He let that thought trail off, before Athena or Artemis blasted him.

"I don't remember giving you those." He narrowed his eyes playfully. "Have you been sneaking into my cabin? You know, stealing's a punishable offense."

She rolled her eyes. "No, I paid off Connor and Travis to take them."

He frowned. "Really?"

"Gods," she grinned at him, "you're such a Seaweed Brain."

Try as he could, he couldn't help but feel relieved that she was kidding. The thought of Connor and Travis riffling through his things terrified him. If those two went through his cabin, they'd have so much to hold over him, not to mention he'd probably die of embarrassment once they told everyone what they'd found.

"I got them from your cabin," Annabeth lowered her voice when Ethan shifted in his chair; "a week or two after you disappeared."

He gave her a small smile. She glanced away from him and looked back up at the ceiling. Percy knew Annabeth hated feeling vulnerable, hated talking about her feelings and his disappearance had really shaken her. Right as he was about to ask her if she was okay, she looked back at him, a smirk on her lips.

"I found a few interesting things while searching your cabin for clues to as why you disappeared."

He swallowed. "Yeah?"

"Mhm," she tried to keep her expression serious, but failed miserably, "I love the collage you made of me above your bunk."

Percy could feel his face reddening. "Shut up."

"I can only imagine what you have taped to your walls at home."

He reached forward and shoved her knee playfully. "At least I'm not stealing your clothes."

She laughed. "That would just be wrong. The day you do that is the day I break up with you."

"Relax," he flashed her a mocking smile, "lacy underwear is not my thing."

"They aren't lacy."

He stared at her, slightly shocked. She regarded him with a challenge in her grey eyes. Annabeth never ceased to surprise him.

"So," he cleared his throat, trying to pull his thoughts away from what type of underwear Annabeth did wear, "what else did you steal from my cabin?"

Annabeth didn't answer right away. She was studying him and he shifted uncomfortably. There was no doubt in his mind that she didn't know what he was trying not to think about. Honestly, he loved to play who can outwit the other, but the game had taken a dangerous and very personal turn. He really didn't want to discuss what they'd stumbled upon with Reyna and a fourteen year old boy in the room.

"Just some t-shirts and a sweatshirt or two." She traced the white letters on the sweatpants.

"What about my ball caps?"

Annabeth brushed the hair away from her face. When it just fell back, she let go of her Yankees cap and re-tied her ponytail. Percy wished she'd leave it down, he loved her princess curls. Despite tying the elastic three times, a curl still escaped. He smiled as she sighed in frustration and raked it behind her ear.

"Grover took those."

"What?" A terrifying image of Grover parading around in his clothes invaded his mind. "Is everybody at camp wearing something of mine?"

Annabeth's eyes flashed. "No, of course not."

"Who has my Montauk cap?" He really hoped that Grover hadn't taken it. It was his favorite, and he didn't want it to get torn or stretched out because of his horns.

"I do." Annabeth's voice was soft. He suddenly realized that the clothes she had taken were probably his favorites. The shirt and sweatpants she was in he wore all the time. They hadn't been dating for very long, and for some reason, he was glad that Annabeth knew which clothes he favored.

"Oh." _Smooth_, he thought.

"If you want the clothes back, I brought most of them with me…" Annabeth let her sentence trail off.

"Yeah," Percy grinned, "but you can keep the sweatpants, the green and blue t-shirts and my black hoodie."

Annabeth tipped her head to the side. "How did you know I had those?"

He shrugged. "Lucky guess."

"What about the Montauk cap?"

He regarded her seriously. She in turn arched an eyebrow at him. _How do people do that_, he couldn't help but wonder. "Well," he sighed dramatically, "I guess you can keep that too."

She smiled. "I wasn't going to give it back even if you said no."

"I figured, Wise Girl."

The doors to the infirmary burst open and he jumped. Annabeth was so surprised that she wasn't able to put her cap on before people began streaming in. On the other side of the room, Ethan fell out of his chair and muttered a string of curses that would have gotten him kitchen duty if Reyna had been awake. Five women, all dressed in black, marched into the room. Percy immediately recognized Hylla, the queen of the Amazons looked so much like her sister it was startling.

Hylla had her eyes glued to him, or rather, who was next to him. "You." It was just a whisper, but Percy heard it, and his stomach dropped.

"Can we help you?" Annabeth's tone was very unfriendly.

Hylla laughed and her guards closed the doors to the infirmary, taking up positions in front of it so that no one could get in, or out. "I've been waiting years to come across you."

Annabeth glanced at him, but Percy kept his eyes on Hylla.

"Who the Hades are you?" If it were possible, Annabeth's voice became even colder.

Hylla took a step forward and Percy slipped his hand into his pocket, grabbing ahold of Riptide. Just as he was about to get up, Ethan stepped in front of Hylla.

"You need to leave." Ethan crossed his arms and glared at the queen of the Amazons. "No visitors allowed, my patients aren't well enough-"

Hylla pushed the son of Apollo to the side and tried to walk past him, but Ethan grabbed ahold of her arm.

"Hey, I said-"

One of Hylla guards leapt forward and grabbed ahold of the back of Ethan's shirt. The son of Apollo flailed his arms and legs, trying in vain to free himself. If he wasn't in such a dire situation, Percy would have laughed, Ethan looked like caught fish. Deciding that things had gone far enough, Percy stood. The floor rolled beneath him, but he pushed down the dizziness and faced the queen of the Amazons.

"Queen Hylla," Annabeth stood up next to him, "you can't-"

Hylla took a step forward, her hand clutching the hilt of a wicked looking knife. Without thinking about it, he moved in front of Annabeth, blocking the queen of the Amazon's view of her, and effectively ruining her shot. Annabeth poked him hard in between the shoulder blades, making it clear that she wasn't happy with his show of protectiveness.

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do Percy Jackson."

Hylla took a step to the right and he mirrored her footwork. There was no way in Hades he was going to give Hylla a clear shot at Annabeth. As of right now, he was the only thing standing in between her and one seriously pissed off, and well trained killer. He felt Annabeth's back press up against his, and he was relieved to know that she was keeping an eye on the other Amazons.

"Get out of my way Jackson." Hylla moved closer and he uncapped Riptide. Just as he was about to retort, and tell her to back the Ares off, all Hades broke loose.

Ethan, who Percy had thought was unconscious amongst the broken cots, had somehow gotten ahold of a bow and had let an arrow fly. The arrow whooshed past Hylla's ear, making her dark hair fly and sunk into the marble wall right where he and Annabeth had been standing. Somehow, Annabeth must have seen Ethan raise the bow, because she grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him over the cot next to them.

Hylla's guards threw some knifes at Ethan, while Hylla advanced on them. Percy couldn't do anything but lay dazed on the floor. Everything was out of focus and swimming before his eyes. Luckily, Annabeth had her head in the game and tipped over one of the cots, using it as a makeshift shield.

The doors to the infirmary banged open again and Percy tipped his head to the side, watching as hundreds of blurry combat boots raced in. Through the roaring of blood in his ears, he could hear Hylla and her goons yelling insults as members of the legion detained them. Some of the combat boots raced over to him, forming a circle around his body. Someone broke through the circle and knelt next to him.

"Percy?"

He turned his head and looked up. The mirror stars swam above him as he stared up at Gwen, or Gwens, because he was currently seeing double. People were shouting in Latin and in English. His head was throbbing and no matter how much he blinked, the stars wouldn't stop spinning.

"Annabeth," he groaned.

"Right here." He opened his eyes and was horrified to see that two Gwens and two Annabeths were staring down at him.

He closed his eyes and tried to get his churning stomach under control. "The stars…"

"Percy?" Annabeth gripped his hand. The shouting continued, someone struggled and metal screeched against marble.

He cleared his throat and opened his eyes. Annabeth was leaning over him; the loose curls form her ponytail failing in her eyes. He tried to reach up and brush them away, but Gwen was holding his other arm down.

"Stay still you Seaweed Brain," Annabeth gave him a small smile, "you hit your head, again."

Someone's voice rose above the din and all talking ceased. The voice was oddly familiar to him, but Percy couldn't make out what it was saying. The stars had fallen off the mosaic and were currently dancing around Annabeth's two heads.

"The stars," he mumbled, "they're dancing."

**Reyna**

"The next person," Reyna struggled to sit up, all the blood rushing to her head, "to draw a knife," everyone froze and looked at her as she swung her legs over and perched on the edge of the cot, "loses their hand."

It looked as if half the legion were in the infirmary. A bunch of kids were on the other side of the room, kneeling behind their shields that were arranged in a circle. It was a classic defense move, one the legion used when someone fell in battle. People would form a circle around the fallen soldier, while one person helped the soldier up, or dragged them as the circle moved back to a safe position. Another defensive circle was off to her right, and the rest of the legionnaires were struggling to hold down her sister's guards.

"Get out of the way," she ordered the line of heavily armed kids in front of her cot.

One of the kids, a girl from the Fourth Cohort glanced back at her. "Praetor?"

"Move!"

The kids scattered like she had thrown molted metal at them. Reyna glanced around the room and spotted Octavian standing in front of the open doors of the infirmary.

"Where's Ethan?"

Octavian pointed to the defensive circle on her right. Just as she turned to look at the circle, the son of Apollo stood up in the middle of kids.

"Adsum, Praetor." Someone, probably Bobby, hissed at Ethan to get down and dragged the kid back to the ground. She tried not to roll her eyes.

"_Are you alright Ethan?"_

The legionnaires around Ethan banged their shields once against the marble floor. Reyna felt a swell of pride that everyone was keeping to protocol and acting as if they were in a real battle. Like Lupa and her wolves, while in battle the legion communicated with actions, not words, that way their enemy would not know what they were discussing. Satisfied that Ethan wasn't hurt, she glanced back at Octavian who nodded at the circle across the room. The legionnaires banged their shields against the ground twice. Reyna glared at her sister, who was being held down by Dakota, Jason and Kelsey.

"_Let her up."_

They let go of Hylla, but her sister didn't let go of them. Hylla punched Dakota in the face, pushed Kelsey so hard she slid into Octavian and tried to knock Jason's feet from under him, but the son of Jupiter leapt out of range just in time. Her sister got one foot underneath her and was about to stand up when she yelled her name. Hylla froze, mid crouch, one hand reaching for the long, thin hunting knife Reyna knew was in her boot, while Jason stood a few feet opposite her, his stance relaxed, gladius in hand.

"_That's enough Hylla_." She growled in Scythian, the ancient language of the Amazons.

Hylla glared at her, her dark eyes shifting toward Jason. Reyna stood, intending to march over and put herself in between Hylla and her least favorite Roman, but the world tilted beneath her. Someone grabbed her elbow, preventing her from crashing to the floor. She tried to rip her arm free, but whoever had ahold of her pushed her back down on the cot.

"_Alright," _she swallowed against the nausea, _"everybody who isn't injured or a medic, get out."_

While most of the kids filed out of the doors, Dakota and three other kids took a seat on the few intact cots. Blood was pouring out of Dakota's nose and she could hear the muffled curses even though she was across the room. Hylla got to her feet, dismissed her guards and walked over to her, glaring at whoever was standing behind her. _Gods be good, her sister was really pissing her off._ Wearily, Reyna put her head in her hands.

"Hey," someone sat down next to her and forced her to sit up, "don't have another seizure on me."

After recovering from her shock of coming face to face with Octavian, she moved out from underneath his hand. Hylla stopped right in front of her, and before the Amazon could do anything to him, she told Octavian to leave. Her sister watched him go and only after the doors to the infirmary closed did she take a seat in Ethan's chair.

"_You're hovering."_

Hylla frowned. _"Reyna, I'm not…"_ Her sister trailed off when she realized Reyna wasn't looking at her, but over her shoulder.

Reyna stared at Jason, willing him to leave, but the son of Jupiter simply sheathed his sword and rested his hand against the hilt. He was the picture of ease and the determined glint in his blue eyes made it clear he wasn't going anywhere, even if more than words were thrown. She knew arguing with him was futile, so she motioned to were Percy was still lying on the floor. Jason gave her a nod, a small triumphant smile lifting up the scar on his lip. Reyna wrote off the tightness in her chest as he turned away to the way the floor was still heaving beneath her.

"Mind explaining why you have a death wish?"

Reyna glared at her sister. "Mind explaining why you started a brawl in my infirmary?"

Hylla narrowed her eyes. "They were holding you prisoner, I had to do something-"

_Oh, for the love of Olympus. _Why was her sister such a dramatic? "They weren't holding me prisoner Hylla, they-"

"Those idiots, refused to tell me anything-"

Reyna clenched her fists. "Don't you dare insult my soldiers. As usual, you overreacted."

"I overreacted?" She was painfully aware of how loud her sister's voice had gotten.

Trying to steady her breathing and force the red haze from her vision, Reyna glared at her sister. "Yes," she hissed, "you overreacted, you always-"

"_You could have been killed Reyna!"_ Hylla all but shouted in Latin.

Reyna sighed, all the fury melting away. "What would you have me do?" She lowered her voice and glared at everyone, they were doing a terrible job of pretending not to listen, "let him drown?"

The look on Hylla's face was icy cold. "Yes."

Everything stopped. For three seconds, the floor stopped rolling beneath her and she could see every detail of every object in the room. Percy was still lying on the floor, Gwen and his girlfriend hovering over him. Annabeth was glancing over her shoulder at her, and Jason, Jason was staring at her, his shoulders tense, hand gripping the hilt of his gladius. _Give me the word,_ his expression screamed; _just say it and I'll throw your sister out_.

**Percy**

"You all right?"

Percy squeezed his eyes shut and took a few deep breaths. When he hesitantly blinked his eyes opened, he was glad to see that the stars were no longer dancing and Annabeth only had one head.

"Yeah," he tried to sit up, but Gwen and Annabeth held him down, "I'm fine."

"Alright," Gwen glanced at him and then looked at Annabeth, "help him up on three."

Annabeth wrapped an arm behind his back as he sat up. He got his feet underneath him before all the blood rushed to his head. Groaning, he knelt back down, Gwen and Annabeth holding his upper arms, effectively keeping him upright.

"_Maybe I'm not okay."_

Gwen called for Ethan, and then asked him a question, but he couldn't focus on anything but the throbbing in his head and the ground tilting beneath him. Annabeth knelt in front of him, one hand braced against his chest to keep him upright.

"_Percy,"_ Gods it had been so long since someone had spoken to him in Ancient Greek, _"look at me."_

He did as she asked, and regretted it immediately. Back were the two Annabeth's, both with storm grey eyes and princess curls. Annabeth seemed to sense what was going on, because she didn't wait for Ethan. She moved next to him, draped his arm across her shoulders, wrapped an arm around his waist and heaved him to his feet. It felt as if he was strapped to a ball and someone had kicked it halfway across a field. Annabeth dragged him back a step and then dropped him unceremoniously onto a cot. With everything spinning and all the blood roaring in his ears, he didn't think about moving his arm from around Annabeth's shoulders. She braced herself against the edge of the cot, her face, or faces, right in front of his.

"_Gods you're heavy."_

"_Sorry_," he mumbled as the stars starting raining down from the ceiling.

**Reyna**

Ethan was trying to stop the waterfall of blood gushing from Dakota's nose, while the centurion swore at him. An arrow was lodged in the marble wall, the expensive stone was cracked and Reyna could only imagine how much it would cost to replace it. Hylla whispered her name, and she looked back at her.

"Percy Jackson, is my friend, Hylla. He would have done the same thing for me."

Hylla threw her hands in the air and got up from the chair. She took a few angry steps away from the cot, but soon turned on her heel and stalked back.

"You don't know that," Hylla pointed to where Percy was now lying in a cot, "you don't know what he would have done, he's a-"

"Not every guy is like dad, Hylla!"

Hylla flinched as if she'd slapped her across the face. Reyna knew she had crossed a line, she knew it before the words had even left her mouth. Everyone in the infirmary was frozen, waiting anxiously to see what would happen, even Dakota was quiet. Hylla's dark eyes, eyes so much like her own, burned with rage.

"_You don't even know…" _Reyna couldn't understand the rest of her sister's sentence, she didn't speak Scythian fluently. Hylla switched to English. "You think you understand, but you don't Reyna. They are all the same," Reyna knew where her sister was going with this, she knew she deserved it too, but she willed her to shut up, "no matter what they say, or how much you think they care, they always end up hurting you in the end."

Reyna shook her head and Hylla took a step closer to her. "You know I'm right, that boy-"

"Get out." She whispered. Reyna had to make her sister stop; this wasn't the place or the time for this conversation, not to mention that Hylla didn't even understand.

"Reyna."

Hylla tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked back. The floor heaved beneath her and she put her head in her hands. She heard someone move closer, probably Ethan. Hylla started to say her name again, but she cut her off before she got to the n.

"Get out." Reyna couldn't believe this was happening. "Get out Hylla, just get out."

**Piper**

Piper stared out the window of the hotel room she shared with Annabeth. Beyond the glass, New Rome bustled with life. Windows were alight with lanterns. Couples and families walked the cobbled streets, their voices rising and falling like some type of long forgotten melody. Every so often, she would catch sight of a purple shirt or someone in Roman armor.

"Hey," Piper sighed and glanced over her shoulder at Leo, "watch this."

Leo grabbed a fork from the table that was covered in dirty dishes and put the end of it on his nose. Carefully, he let go of it, the fork swaying as he moved beneath it, trying to balance it. His eyes were crossed and he was waving his arms like he was trying to land the Argo.

"You're going to poke an eye out."

As she turned back to the window, there was a crash and Leo yelped. Piper leapt up. Leo was lying on the floor; his legs sprawled over the legs of a chair. He pushed himself up on his elbow, and held up the fork, a grin from ear to ear.

"I am okay."

Piper couldn't help but smile. "You're an idiot."

Leo got to his feet and leaned down to pick up the chair. He banged his head against the edge of the heavy oak table and then tripped over the chair as he tried to move back. Piper caught him before he crashed to the floor. Leo gazed up at her, his eyes a bit unfocused and a goofy grin on his face.

"Thanks Beauty Queen."

Piper shook her head. "How much wine did you have?"

Leo furrowed his brow. "Dunno, a lot?"

On the table, amongst the dirty dishes was a bottle of wine. She and Leo had been surprised when the waiter had brought it up with their food. Piper had tried explaining to the waiter that they hadn't ordered the bottle, but he had just left it on the table. When Jason stopped by, right after the sun had set; he explained that it was common for people, even kids, in New Rome to drink wine with their dinners. Wine was always served with meals in Ancient Rome, and even in modern day Italy they still served wine, no matter your age. Jason had suggested they dilute the drink with water and not have more than a glass or two, but it was clear that Leo had not listened.

"Come on," Piper pulled the tipsy son of Hephaestus to his feet, "time to lay down, before you hurt yourself again."

Leo just laughed as she walked him to one of the twin beds in the room and pushed him down onto it.

**Percy**

"I think I should leave."

Percy reached out for Annabeth and tried to persuade her to stay, but it was Ethan who ended up convincing her to sit back down.

"He's got a bad head contusion and he needs someone to monitor him." The son of Apollo regarded Annabeth carefully. "You can stay, if you'll be of use."

Annabeth didn't even bother to answer, she simply grabbed a chair that had been turned over and sat down. Ethan nodded and then quick as lightning, plunged a needle into his arm. Percy tried to push the son of Apollo away from him and rip out the needle, but Annabeth was holding his other arm down. After a few seconds, Ethan pulled the needle out, a small smirk on his face.

"Sorry, but you'll heal much faster if you're not talking all night." Percy thought about punching the head medic, but he was beginning to blur.

"He'll be out cold until sometime tomorrow afternoon. Let me know if anything changes, if his breathing slows, or he looks flushed," Ethan pointed to a door near the back of the infirmary, "I'll be in my office."

Percy turned his head to the side and looked at Annabeth. Back were the two daughters of Athena, both with princess curls and an amused expression. He tried to reach out to her, but his arm felt like a block of cement.

"Try not to drool, Seaweed Brain."

As the black spots began to dance in front of his eyes, he tried to tell her not to leave, not even if Ethan told her she could go in the morning, but all he managed was _Annabeth_, before the blackness engulfed him.

**Reyna**

"If you try to knock me out like you did Percy," Reyna picked her head up and glared at the son of Apollo, who had one hand in his pocket, "I swear I'll hit you so hard you won't know which end of a gladius you're supposed to hold when you come to."

There was loud laugh, one she was all too familiar with. Ethan shook his head and gave her a nod, then retreated to his office. The other medics had taken care of Dakota and the two other injured campers, quickly sending them back to their barracks. Everyone who had even an ounce of sense had cleared out after she had yelled at her sister, but Jason had remained. Not surprising, she mused, he always lacked common sense, _or simply cared too much_, a voice in the back of her head whispered.

Jason gazed down at her with his signature smile, the one that had one him the hearts of almost every girl, and a few of the guys, of New Rome. She hated that smile, and she hated the arrogant, victorious glint that always glowed in his eyes when he wore it. Instead of giving him the satisfaction of winning an argument she knew she was going to lose, she decided to switch tactics.

"_You're hovering."_

Jason's smile dimmed a little, he hadn't been expecting her to let him stay so easily. He moved in front of the chair and hesitated. She stared up at him, even though his image blurred in and out of focus. _Damn those mermen and their poison, _she thought.

"_I'm trying to decide if it's worth sitting down."_

Reyna frowned.

"I have a feeling you're just waiting for me to get close so that you can knock me out like you threatened to do to Ethan."

She didn't answer him, but he unbuckled his sword belt and sat in the chair. He rested his gladius on the floor, and she made a mental note to ask him what had happened to his coin later.

"You okay?" He leaned toward her, his smile completely gone, the arrogance replaced with worry in his electric blue eyes. "You're not spinning or anything are you?"

She hated how soft his voice was and she hated how concerned he sounded. Of course I'm spinning, she wanted to say, my best friend got kidnapped by a goddess, brought to an enemy camp and now has finally returned with our enemies in tow, enemies he seems all too friendly with. Instead of answering him, she simply lay down on her side, her back to him. Reyna didn't feel like talking, especially not Jason. The fight with her sister had left her exhausted and miserable. She knew that she wouldn't be able to keep her emotion under control if she got into a discussion with Jason, and she was done with making a fool of herself in front of others.

To his credit, Jason didn't say anything about her childish behavior; he simply settled into his chair and rested his feet on the edge of her cot. On any other day, she would have told him to move his feet, but she had been cruel enough to the son of Jupiter. Trying to keep a lid on everything that was boiling over, she shut her eyes and tried to slow her breathing.

"_Despite everything," _Jason's voice was just a breath of a whisper, _"I'm glad to be home, I've missed Camp Jupiter, and I've missed you, Reyna."_

Unbidden, a tear escaped and slid across her cheek. _I've missed you too, Jason, more than you probably know, _she wanted nothing more than to whisper back, but she kept quiet. It was probably the dumbest thing she'd done that day.

* * *

><p><strong>So, you got some Percebeth, some bittersweet Jeyna, drunk Leo, a fight, banter, caring Octavian and Annabeth in Percy's clothes...is it too much to ask for a review or two?<strong>

**Personal favorite lines, "They aren't lacy" "The next person to draw a knife loses a hand" and "If you try to knock me out like you did Percy I'll hit you so hard you won't know which end of a gladius to hold when you come to"**

**What were your favorite lines?**

**How did I do with the Percebeth banter?**

**Perhaps if I hear from some people, people that I haven't heard from before, but are following this story, in addition to the faithful reviewers, I may just post Chapter 5, which is currently sitting on my computer, finished and ready to go.**

**(Sorry for the bribing) -Thorntangle**


	5. Chapter 5 Fire and Ice

**I would just like to say, hello to all the new reviewers! It's great to finally hear from you guys, and I hope I continue to hear from you (Hint, hint)**

**So, short chapter compared to the last one, but we've got a lot happening.**

* * *

><p><strong>Jason<strong>

"You would not believe how hot the girl is down the hall…"

Jason let his mind wander as Leo described one of the Amazons staying in the Florence. Despite having a serious hangover, the son of Hephaestus was wide eyed and bushy tailed. Leo's energy probably had something to do with all the cups of coffee Piper had given him that morning, but Jason doubted that he would be any different without the caffeine.

It was a warm, muggy afternoon and for the most part the streets were deserted. The citizens of New Rome were either at the canoe lake or inside their villas, trying to avoid the heat. He had decided to skip lunch with legion and instead had made the trek to the city. The hour and a half he had for lunch was not nearly enough time for him to spend with Piper and Leo, but the quick trip to the café would have to do.

Piper, who was sitting next to him at the tiny metal table, absently twirled a straw wrapper in her hand. Jason found himself glancing at her, more and more as Leo rambled on. The daughter of Aphrodite had put her hair up, and a few strands had come loose from the bun, brushing the delicate skin of her collarbone. Gods, his fingers itched to brush the pieces of hair behind her ear. After a few furtive glances, Piper caught his eye.

"Hey," Leo snapped his fingers in front of his face and Jason tore his gaze from Piper's, "are you listening to me?"

"Uh," He cleared his throat and tried to pull his thoughts together, "yeah, I just zoned out for a second, what were you saying?"

Leo shook his head, an irritated look on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, Jason could see Piper. She had her head down and was studying the water running down the side of her glass, her cheeks a bit pink.

"I was saying," Jason focused back on Leo, "your leader friend is hot."

Jason almost dropped the glass he had in his hand.

"She's got that whole ice princess image going on like Khione-"

Piper snorted. "More like ice queen."

Jason couldn't believe the turn this conversation had taken. He was frozen in his chair, mouth hanging open slightly.

Leo shrugged. "Doesn't bother me, I like a challenge."

_A challenge_, Jason couldn't help but laugh, _Leo had no idea what a challenge Reyna was._

Piper rolled her eyes, but Leo ignored her and kept talking. "Seriously, I like a girl who plays hard to get." Leo leaned back in his chair and waggled his eyebrows. "I'm willing to work for it, she can't ignore me forever."

"Please," Piper flicked the straw wrapper at Leo, "she's never going to give you the time of day. I don't even understand why you're interested."

Leo leaned forward his face astonished. "You're kidding me, right?" Leo glanced at him, but before he could say anything, Leo turned back to Piper. "Pipes, Reyna is hot, like capital H-O-T hot. She's got that whole, Amazonian-warrior-woman attitude, and the body to go along with it."

"Can we talk about something else," Jason hated the hard edge to his voice, "please?"

**Hazel**

Hazel brushed her hand across a diamond absentmindedly. The sun was just beginning to set, and the diamonds atop Pluto's temple were reflecting the light into thousands of rainbows. The day had dragged by, stable duties, Latin lessons and strategy training refusing to end, much like the heat wave that had settled over the valley. No matter how hard Frank had tried, she had remained in what her mother would have called, a dark mood, all day.

It just didn't make any sense to her how Camp Jupiter couldn't go looking for Nico. He was vitally important to the camp and New Rome; he was senator, for Jupiter's sake! How could Reyna say that his welfare wasn't "their" concern? With a hollow sigh, she watched as more diamonds popped up on the roof.

"I'm going to find you Nico," she whispered to the setting sun. "I'm going to help you just like you helped me."

**Percy**

Percy resisted the urge to bang his head against the back of his uncomfortable marble chair. Injuring himself further wouldn't get him out of the Senate meeting, but at this point, he was willing to try anything. The Senate had been called to discuss the incident at the marina shortly after lunch, and it was now dark. Everyone looked about ready to throw themselves down the Senate steps, that is, everyone except Octavian. The little rat was convinced that Neptune had turned and was trying everything imaginable to connect the Greeks to the incident. It didn't matter how many times he defended his friends or how many times Dakota threatened to knock his teeth out, Octavian kept talking. Even Reyna hadn't been able to stop Octavian's deranged ramblings.

Bobby, one of the centurions of the third, finished his speech and began to head back to his seat. He didn't get two feet before Octavian rose and made his way down to the floor. Argentum, who was lying in between his chair and Reyna's, whined and rolled over onto his back. Percy couldn't help but glance at the greyhound and nod in agreement.

"I simply can't understand-"

"_Octavian._"

Octavian froze mid-sentence and looked at Reyna. Actually, the whole Senate was frozen and staring at Reyna. The daughter of Bellona was gripping the edge of her marble chair's arm rests so hard her knuckles were white. She looked seconds away from losing it, or passing out. Percy couldn't get over how exhausted she looked. Usually, Reyna didn't let the toll the praetorship took on her show. He could only guess that the mermen's poison had done more harm than she was letting on. They probably should have listened to Ethan and stayed in the infirmary another day, but neither of them had been very good with sitting still for long.

"Unless you have something new to add-"

Octavian moved closer to Reyna. "Praetor, I'm simply trying to help you see…"

Reyna silenced him with a look, one look. Percy just couldn't understand how she did it.

"I do not need your help to see a plot that is not there, Octavian." Reyna stood up and Octavian took a few steps back. "Now, unless you have something new to add, which I highly doubt you do," some of the Senators smiled and laughed quietly, "I'm calling this meeting to a close."

No one waited to hear Octavian's objections, the Senate House cleared out as if it were on fire. As everyone quickly made their way out, Reyna sunk back into her chair. Argentum sat up and licked her hand, whimpering softly. Before Octavian could take two steps toward them, Percy fixed him with his wolf stare. Aurum, who was laying at the base of the dais the marble chairs were on, raised his head and growled at the augur, backing up Percy's death glare. With a look that screamed, this isn't over, Octavian stormed out of the Senate House.

"Hey," he laid a hand on Reyna's shoulder, "are you okay?"

"That is by far the least tactful statement you have made in Senate to date."

Percy whipped his head up and scanned the Senate seats. A guy in a scarlet toga got up from his seat in the back and made his way toward the dais. Percy had no idea how he had not realized the guy was there, he could have sworn the Senate House was empty but for him and Reyna.

"Yeah, well," Reyna leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, "someone had to shut him up."

The guy, who had stopped a few feet from them to rub Aurum's ears, laughed. "A dagger through his throat would work too."

A faint smile played on Reyna's lips and Percy couldn't help but feel he was intruding on some age old routine. If he had to guess, it was the same feeling people probably got when he and Annabeth tried to outwit the other.

"Now who's being tactless?" Reyna opened her eyes and gave the guy a warm smile.

"Percy," He leaned forward and shook the guy's hand as Reyna introduced him, "this is Marcus, son of Mars, former praetor and my mentor."

Percy couldn't help but give Reyna a teasing smile. "So you actually had a mentor, I always thought you were born with your talent."

Reyna gave him a dark look and Marcus frowned at him. Percy cleared his throat and made a mental note that he was not yet close enough to Reyna to play who can out-insult the other.

"So," Marcus offered Reyna his hand and the daughter of Bellona allowed him to pull her to her feet, "what are your plans for this weekend?"

Percy tried to keep up with Marcus and Reyna, but he had not yet mastered the art of walking quickly in a toga.

Reyna sighed. "Busy, it seems that everyone wants a minute of my time this weekend."

Marcus laughed and then glanced over his shoulder at Percy, as if to say, are you coming or not Greek? Deciding that the toga had to go, he slashed the knot Gwen had tied at lunch with his pugio and ripped the bed sheet off. Reyna gave him an exasperated look when he caught up to her, bed sheet draped around his neck like a towel.

"My sister is planning on leaving Monday, so I'll be spending time with her and the Amazons, not to mention-"

"That you're going to dinner with me Sunday night."

Percy had to hand it to Marcus, the guy was smooth. Surprisingly, Reyna didn't shoot the son of Mar's down, like Percy had expected her to.

"Oh really?" Reyna paused before taking the turn in the road that led to Terminus, and then father on, the camp.

Marcus nodded. "You need a break."

Reyna raised a delicate eyebrow. "Aren't you the one who told me that praetors don't get breaks, their job is to give all their strength, wisdom and time to Camp Jupiter?"

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "Don't be a smartass," Percy couldn't believe the fact that Reyna didn't even bat an eye at Marcus' comment, "you know what I mean by break."

Reyna smiled. "An in depth discussion on everything I'm doing wrong while we stuff our faces at J's."

Marcus glanced over his shoulder as he walked down the road that led to the city. "I was planning on taking you to Becco actually."

As he and Reyna made their way up the road to Terminus, Percy couldn't help give her a teasing grin. "Looks like someone has a date Sunday night."

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Oh please, it's not a date."

Percy ignored her comment and hummed the tune to K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

"Seriously," Reyna laughed and shoved him playfully, "it's not a date. Marcus is my mentor, he takes me out at least once a month."

"Denial isn't just a river in Europe."

Reyna shook her head. "Africa you idiot, the river is in Africa."

Percy shrugged; he'd never been very good at geography. "Whatever," he started singing the song instead of humming it. He took off down the road before Reyna could shut him up forcefully. She shouted at him and he knew without having to turn around that she was right behind him. The look on Terminus' face was priceless as they raced toward him. Despite all the threats Reyna had shouted at him, Percy kept singing.

"What in Tarturus is going on?" The border god watched him dodge Reyna's grasp.

Reyna held out her hand as he stood out of arms reach, still singing. "Give me my pugio Julia."

Percy laughed. "Oh, come on Reyna."

The daughter of Bellona glared at him, but for the first time since he had come to Camp Jupiter; Reyna's dark eyes were full of laughter. Perhaps he was better friends with Reyna than he previously thought. Encouraged by her good mood, he started singing again.

"Knock that off Jackson;" Unlike Reyna, Terminus was not amused by his antics, "you're a praetor you shouldn't be acting like a child."

"It's physically impossible for him to act mature, Terminus."

Percy stuck his tongue out at Reyna and she laughed. Julia handed him Riptide and then gave Reyna her gladius and pugio. Smirking, Reyna twirled her pugio in her hand.

"I'll give you a head start."

Percy didn't need a second invitation. He took off down the road to camp, singing the song as loud as he could.

**Reyna**

Reyna shook her head. She couldn't help but grin as she watched Percy race down the road, singing off key. Every few strides, he'd glance over his shoulder at her, green eyes shining.

"It's hard to believe he's the one who defeated the Titan lord."

Reyna looked up at Terminus. "He can be serious when he wants to."

Terminus snorted. "I can only assume that he never wants to be serious then."

Aurum and Argentum whined at her. The greyhounds hated being cooped up, and the Senate meeting had lasted hours. She hadn't allowed them to go very far from her side during the walk to Terminus and they could barely stay seated at her feet, their ruby eyes pleading with her.

"Well?" Percy had stopped about a third of the way down the road, Riptide carelessly resting on his shoulder.

The dogs whined again.

"Praetor…" Terminus warned quietly.

Just as Marcus had taught her, she never took a break, even when she was supposed to. She always made sure that she was available in case something went wrong. She was always, calm and collected, almost never allowing her emotions to get in the way. Percy started singing again and Aurum barked.

"_Get him."_

The greyhounds were a blur as they sprinted toward Percy. The son of Neptune stopped singing and focused all his attention on outrunning her dogs. Reyna laughed as the greyhounds herded Percy off the road. With a nod to Terminus, she took off after them; she could afford to just _be_ for a few minutes. As she started down the road, Percy began singing again. Above his off key tune, Reyna could hear Terminus' questioning her.

"I thought Marcus had a boyfriend, or was Dakota lying to me?"

Reyna didn't bother to answer, knowing that Julia would inform Terminus that Marcus did indeed have a boyfriend. All her attention was focused on making good on her promises to make Percy regret his teasing song.

**Percy**

Percy ran a hand through his hair, dried grass falling gently onto the heavy oak table in front of him. After being tackled by Argentum and Aurum, Reyna had made him apologize and promise to clean out the filing room before she called the dogs off, allowing him to get up. They were now sitting in the Principia, trying to finish the paperwork that had piled up while they had been in the Senate House. Not only did he have grass in his hair, but he felt a bit light headed. The run and tussle in the grass was definitely something he shouldn't have done, considering that only yesterday he had been in the infirmary with a head contusion.

The run had also taken a toll on Reyna, who had looked ready to drop in the Senate House. They had been in the Principia for half an hour, but her cheeks were still flushed. A small bottle of nectar sat in front of her, half empty. The run had been a stupid idea, but it was worth it, evident from the small smile still playing on Reyna's lips. With a sigh, he leaned back in his chair and stretched, turning his head to glance out the window. What he saw beyond the glass made him freeze.

"Percy?" Reyna glanced at him in confusion and then looked out the window.

She gasped and then jumped up. Percy was way ahead of her, for once. They burst through the principia doors just as a breathless scout was climbing the steps. His report wasn't needed; they had already seen that the stretch of dry grass in between the Field of Mars and the city was on fire.

**Annabeth**

Smoke clouded her vision and made it difficult to breathe. Hot air and ash buffeted her on all sides, the saying, walking into an oven, took on a whole new meaning for her. Though she couldn't see more than a few inches in front of her, she could hear. People, men, women and children were screaming, their voices ripping through her skull and making her want to rip out her hair. The ground was shaking and the unmistakable sound of stones crashing against one another dueled with the shrieking people.

"_Wisdom's daughter walks alone,"_

Annabeth clamped her hands over her ears, but the unmistakable voice of her mother continued on.

"_The mark of Athena burns through Rome."_

If it were possible, the screaming grew louder. People began rushing past her, their faces but blurs through the ash and smoke. Someone ran into her, and she fell to the ground, the cobble stones scrapping her hands.

"_War shall descend; an army raised,"_

Annabeth screamed at her mother to stop. The hot ash burned her throat and coated her lungs, causing her to choke. There was an ear splitting crack, the people's shrieking took on a tone only dogs could hear and suddenly the sky was falling. Great hulking shapes were tumbling to the ground, crushing the fleeing people. Annabeth knew she was experiencing an earthquake; she had grown up in California and was familiar with the ground heaving and buildings collapsing.

"_All to be destroyed upon the final day."_

Something heavy landed on her legs and she grit her teeth against the pain.

"_Choices will be made as a soul is reclaimed,"_

More stones were falling on and around her. She was being buried alive and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't escape the falling rubble.

"_The earth goddess' rise finally proclaimed."_

Annabeth sat bolt upright in bed, heart hammering against her ribs. She'd been having that particular dream ever since her mother had visited her and given her the prophecy. Of all her demigods' dreams, it was one of the worst. She tried to take a few deep breaths, but the smoke from the nightmare was still coating her throat.

"Annabeth?" The call was a hoarse croak.

Suddenly, everything fell into place. She leaped off the bed and grabbed Piper's hand, pulling the daughter of Aphrodite to the door. The smoke that had choked her as she tried to take a deep breath wasn't from her dream, but pouring in from the open window. As she and Piper stumbled into the hallway, they ran into a few terrified Amazons. The girls, who looked to be no older than thirteen, were yelling in some language she didn't recognize. While Piper tried to calm the girls down and get them down the stairs, Annabeth raced down the hall to Leo's room and pounded on the door. _Please, _she begged, _please don't let the prophecy be coming true._

* * *

><p><strong>So, we've finally have a completed prophecy. Thoughts on what you think will happen and what it all means?<strong>

**Who thinks Hazel is going to run off an try and save Nico?**

**Who thinks the prophecy is coming true as Annabeth fears?**

**Who thinks I'm going to kill off a character? Let's not forget, this MOA is darker and more mature than the usual ones on this site.**

**In case anyone was wondering, we'll find out why Marcus' toga is scarlet latter on...and no, it has nothing with him being gay.**

**Well, until next time! Have fun mulling these questions over and perhaps if I hear from some new people, as well as the faithful, I'll update sooner than planned and add in a bit of fluff (let me know who you want in your review).**


	6. Chapter 6 What Do You Want?

Well, hello! It's been quite a long time since I last made an appearance upon this site, and I would apologize, but hey, life happens. I'm assuming everyone has read MOA and is anxiously awaiting House of Hades. Honestly, I never thought that anyone would want me to finish this story, considering MOA is out, but a reviewer has kindly informed me that the next chapter is being anxiously awaited. I'd like to know if this is the general feeling, that you would like to see the story finished even though it will be an alternate storyline.

**Post a review or PM and give me your thoughts,**

Finish the story, with the understanding that it is an alternate storyline and will ignore all the events of MOA and in the case that it is not finished before House of Hades, the events of that book also

OR

Delete the story and pick up were MOA has left off (I've already got some ideas of Tartarus...)

(_Now with option two, deleting the story and picking up where MOA leaves off, please understand that it will be finished before House of Hades is released, so long as the (now tentative) release date does not change from October 2013_)

Either option will focus on Jason/Reyna and Annabeth/Percy

Also, sorry about not putting Author Note as the title of the chapter, but let's be honest, how many of you would have read this if it said author note?


	7. Chapter 7 Good News and Bad News

**Would you like the good news, or the bad news first?**

**So, I read through all the comments and was surprised at how many people wanted me to continue this story. I was also surprised at how many people expressed interest in a fic based off the events of MOA.**

**I really want to explore the interaction between the two camps, as well as Tartarus so the good news is that**** I'll be publishing a new fic that picks up right after MOA. It'll focus on Reyna/Jason and Annabeth/Percy. I'll be keeping the same style, so everyone who fell in love with the way I portray Octavian will not be disappointed. **

**As for this story, it'll be on hold for awhile. My computer recently decided to have a temper tantrum and meltdown. Everything is gone, but hopefully the files can be recovered. I've decided to wait and see if the computer savy people I brought my rebellious computer to can recover the files as opposed to re-writing them.**

**Keep an eye out for the new fic! I'll be putting it under Annabeth/Percy as opposed to Jason/Reyna in an attempt to get more readers, so I would suggest checking in with my page or putting me on author alert so you don't miss the new story!**

**Thanks for reading, hopefully I'll have updates for this story soon.**


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